Euroleague: Olympiacos too much for Virtus. The Greeks conquer the Segafredo Arena 92-70

Bologna, 28 February 2025 – Top-of-the-class Olympiacos Piraeus doesn't give any discounts to a Virtus Segafredo Bologna decimated by absences (Shengelia and Polonara out at the last minute) and overwhelms them 92-70 in the 26th round of the Euroleague. A clear success that matured at the end of a one-way game: Bartzokas' men made things clear right from the start, dominating the contest in terms of energy and physicality (43-30 the rebound count in favor of the red and whites), reaching +28 during the second quarter and resisting the courageous reaction of pride of Virtus, who in the third fraction it climbed back up to -12. Too little, however, to really worry Olympiacos, who in the fourth quarter once again stepped on the accelerator, getting their hands on the victory well in advance. Six men in double figures for points scored in the Hellenic chessboard in the end (12 each for Fall, Vezenkov, Fournier and Peters), while for Segafredo the 15 points from Cordinier and 10 from Hackett.

Race report

Things seemed rather complicated right from the start of the game for Segafredo who, after having opened the match with a basket scored by Akele, had to deal with the competitive fury of the Greeks, capable of putting great intensity on both halves of the court and finding an excellent rhythm in attack: a deadly cocktail, which triggered a 17-0 run – inspired by baskets from Papanikolaou and Fournier – and made Virtus slip to -15 (2-17). Cordinier tried to give a boost, but the Greeks continued to dominate in the offensive paint thanks to Milutinov and raised the deficit bar until +20 at the end of a first quarter with 34 points scored (14-34). A devastating push for a Virtus that seemed to be on the ropes, which also in the second quarter showed great difficulty in the fight for rebounds and in containing the opponents' tall players: and three-pointers by Peters and Dorsey and the plays at the rim by a Fall who was good at finding himself in the right place in the heart of the area thus even made Bologna sink to -28 who also fired blanks from the arc for a long time, finding the first triple of the evening on the twelfth attempt with Cordinier, who just as the clock was ticking sent the bomb into the target 29-54 at half time.

After the break, however, it arrived the turnaround of the black and whites, protagonists of a courageous reaction of pride: Ivanovic's men in the third quarter in fact found confidence, intensity and, dragged by Cordinier, tried to climb back up the slope placing a 19-6 partial that brought them back to -12, sealed by Morgan's free throws (48-60). A hemorrhage that the Greeks were able to effectively stem with triples by Vildoza and Vezenkov, who quickly made Bartzokas's team regain ground, which thus entered the fourth quarter with a fourteen-point advantage (54-68). Upon returning to the parquet, after the last mini-interval, the visiting team found the key to the problem with a 5-0 run for a new +19 (54-73) that effectively extinguished the remaining and faint hopes of Virtus, which in the course of the last 10' sank again to -24, raising the white flag well in advance.