Virtus loses to Sassari 76-68: too many absences

Sassari, January 26, 2025 – A intermittent defense it's not enough for the Virtus to win at the PalaSerradimigni in Sassari. at absences The expected absences of Will Clyburn and Ante Zizic are joined by that of Daniel Hackett, stopped by gastroenteritis and this sudden defection magnifies the problem that the Bolognese have been dealing with for at least three weeks: the rotations are too short to face both the championship and the Euroleague.

In practical terms this difficulty translates into a lack of energy well described by the statistics with the guests capturing 25 rebounds, of which only one offensive, against the 39 of the Sardinians demonstrating how the hosts have an extra gear. The main merit of Sassari, however, is in the shooting accuracy heavy with 51 of the 76 points scored by Dinamo coming from triples for a total of 17/36. Having celebrated coach Massimo Bulleri's first win in Serie A, there are only two things to save from the Bianconeri's performance: what Rayjon Tucker did as soon as he was given some space and confidence and the fact that the players did not drift despite being down for the entire game.

Sassari starts strong immediately going to +15 (25-10) then comes the Virtussina reaction orchestrated by Tucker that brings his team to -1 (33-32). Again thanks to the triples the locals try to regain the lead in the third quarter reaching 14 lengths of advantage (57-43), but relying on the duo formed by Alessandro Pajola and Marco Belinelli the guests bring themselves once again to -5 (67-62) with 3'50" to play. At this point two heavy baskets by Bibins with a missed dunk by Isaia Cordinier in the middle put an end to the game. Hoping to recover both Hackett and the many energies spent in these last seven days, on Friday the Black V will play in Istanbul against Fenerbahce.

The little table

Dynamo Sassari 76 – Virtus Bologna 68

DINAMO SASSARI: Cappelletti 8, Bibbins 12, Piredda n/a, Turchetti n/a, Halilovic 10, Fobbs 16, Tambone 7, Veronesi 3, Bendzius 16, Vincini 4, Renfro n/a, Gazi. Coach Bulleri

VIRTUS BOLOGNA: Cordinier 1, Accorsi ne, Belinelli, 6 Pajola 13, Visconti 12, Shengelia 5, Grazulis 5, Morgan 7, Polonara, Diouf 12, Akele, Tucker 13. Coach Ivanovic

Referees: Lo Guzzo, Dori, Capotorto

Notes. Partials: 25-16; 41-37; 61-51. Two-pointers: Sassari 10/26; Bologna 19/28. Three-pointers: 17/36; 8/27. Free throws: 5/11; 6/8. Rebounds: 39; 25.