Basketball, Serie A: Virtus Bologna falls to Varese, Milan beats Venice with a thrill

Virtus Bologna surprisingly falls (104-95) in Varese and leaves Trento, victorious (76-68) in the match against Trieste, alone at the top of the Serie A standings with full points. Still trailing, even by 10 points at the start of the second half, the Bologna team returned to the game led by Belinelli (the best of his team with 23 points) but in the last 2′ they collapsed, pierced by the inspired Librizzi (28 points and 9 assists) and Hands (16). Among the Lombards, Johnson’s superlative performance (18 points and 10 rebounds) is also worth mentioning, while Banchi’s team didn’t need Shengelia’s 19 points and Clyburn’s 15.

Milan wins with thrill against Venice

Milan gets back to -2 behind the Emilians by sprinting past Venice (79-78). Olimpia won with a thrill, squandering a 20-point lead halfway through the third quarter. Reyer never gave up, even wasting the final overtaking triple with Parks (17 points). The top scorer for the Milanese team was Dimitrijevic (17 points and 10 assists), followed by Bolmaro (16 points and 10 rebounds) and LeDay (16 points). Among the lagoon players, in addition to Parks, Kabengele did well (18 points and 11 rebounds) and McGruder (16 points).

Trapani and Brescia don’t give up on Milan

Tied to Milan in third place remain Trapani, which swept away (95-85) the bottom of Naples, and Brescia, which conquered (89-100) Cremona. The Sicilians were driven above all by Petrucelli (15 points), Robinson (14 with 10 assists) and Yeboah (13 with 8 rebounds). Pangos’ 21 points and 11 assists and Bentil’s 18 were not enough for the Neapolitans. Brescia dominated in Cremona shooting very well (21/30 from 2 and 14/24 from 3). The guests’ top scorer was Rivers (18 points), followed by Ivanovic and Burnell (17 points each) and Della Valle (15). Vanoli, however, didn’t need the 24 points from new arrival Willis and the 17 points and 9 assists from Davis.

Treviso gets back up, Sassari comes back from Pistoia

Treviso breathes and overwhelmed Scafati (104-75) thanks to the superlative performances of Mascolo (23 points), Olisevicius (21) and Paulicap (14 with 16 rebounds). Among the guests, only Stewart (17 points) and Sorokas (16) survived. Finally Sassari came close (77-75) and Pistoia came back thanks to two decisive free throws 5″ from the end by Bibbins (13 points to go). The best of the Sardinians was Bendzius (18 points and rebounds), followed by Fobbs 816). Among the Tuscans, the good performances of Rowan (24 points and 8 rebounds) and Christon (18) are worthy of note.

SERIES A – MATCHDAY 7 RESULTS
Sassari – Pistoia 77-75
Trento – Trieste 76-68
Milan – Venice 79-78
Treviso – Scafati 104-75
Varese – Virtus Bologna 104-95
Trapani – Napoli 95-85
Reggio Emilia – Tortona 86-82
Cremona – Brescia 89-100

CLASSIFICATION: Trento 14 points; Virtus Bologna 12; Milan, Brescia, Trieste, Trapani 10; Reggio Emilia, Tortona 8; Venice, Pistoia 6; Sassari, Scafati, Varese, Treviso 4; Cremona 2; Naples 0.