Virtus overwhelms Openjobmetis Varese 104-67 and flies to the top of Serie A

VIRTUS 104 OPENJOBMETIS VARESE 67

SEGAFREDO : Hackett 4, Cordinier 7, Clyburn 14, Polonara 10, Zizic 6; Pajola 5, Morgan 14, Belinelli 13, Shengelia 14, Akele 8, Diouf 9, Holiday ne. All. Ivanovic. OPENJOBMETIS VARESE: Mitrou-Long 7, Hands 20, Assui N'guessan 8, Alviti 9, Akobundu-Ehiogu 10; Librizzi 6, Gray, Bradford 3, Anticevich, Esposito 2, Fall 2; Turconi ne. Coach Kastritis. Referees: Baldini, Dori and Galasso. Notes: partial scores 13-17, 45-30, 80-50. Two-pointers: Virtus 23/40; Varese 13/23. Three-pointers: 14/26; 12/34. Free throws: 16/23; 5/5. Rebounds: 38; 26.

A quarter to wake up from the initial torpor, take the measure of the opponents then the Virtus shifts into high gear and scores its fifth consecutive victory, which projects it, at least for one night, alone at the top of the Serie A standings. Segafredo Arena, Varese resists for 10', then the Bianconeri, thanks to yet another excellent defensive performance, also find continuity in attack, so much so that they surpass the one hundred mark, they take control of the challenge and do not give up, demonstrating quality but also great solidity. Virtus closes at 104 with 5 players in double figures, confirming their excellent form and newfound energy.

So-so start with the Black Vs at the start of the match, making many mistakes. Luckily Varese doesn't do much better, the -4, on 1-5, of the 5th minute seems almost positive for the black and whites who just never get it right. After 5 minutes of non-basketball Cordinier uncorks the guest basket; Varese initially holds the lead of the match, with Dusko Ivanovic who tries to mix the cards and already in the first quarter rotates 11 of his players with only Holiday, in his last appearance in black and white, remaining on the bench.

The turning point in the match is the usual suspects, namely Belinelli, Shengelia and Pajola who from 11-17 in the 8th minute, between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, create a 14-0 partial that overturns the score and inertia of the challenge. The challenge lights up with three-pointers. Varese temporarily ties at 28-28, but Virtus returns to extend with Belinelli, Cordinier and Polonara.

It was precisely 7 consecutive points by Achille Polonara, who surpassed 3.500 points in Serie A, that gave the final twist to the match, while Morgan's triple at the buzzer was worth the +15 with which they went to halftime. Upon returning to the field, the gap immediately exceeded 20 points to reach the maximum advantage of +40 halfway through the last quarter. Now Belinelli and his teammates are expected to travel to Scafati on Sunday and then to the last decisive challenge with Trapani at the Segafredo Arena on Sunday 11 May.