Virtus Bologna secured a 95-81 victory over Tezenis Verona at the PalaDozza, leaving the visiting squad with just one won quarter despite a determined effort amid roster shortages.
The final scoreline of 95-81 was broken down quarter by quarter with scores of 21-22 in the first, 21-14 in the second, 26-27 in the third, and 27-18 in the final frame of play. Before the match, the induction of Alessandro Ramagli into the Virtus hall of fame served merely as a pre-match courtesy before the home side took control.
Verona traveled to Bologna with an injury-depleted roster missing three players and amid a week of rumors regarding key player Mike Tobey, facing one of the historically strongest teams in the Italian championship that had been built to win and was angered by a series of defeats in Europe and LBA.
Bologna opened the contest with a fast-break three-pointer, but Jermaine Samuels answered with five consecutive points for Verona. Lorenzo Ambrosin added a deep shot to push the early visitors’ margin to 3–8 as Virtus accumulated early fouls. Verona caught fire from beyond the arc with three straight triples, though Tobey picked up two quick fouls and headed to the bench.
Aliou Diarra accelerated the pace to help the hosts close the gap as Verona stalled at 16 points and Bologna closed the gap to a single point. Milan Barbitch then scored on a backdoor cut to finish with a two-handed slam. After ten minutes, Verona held a narrow 22–21 advantage over Bologna.
Virtus claimed the lead in the second period via a transition layup following a turnover by Andrew Andrews. Samuels responded in the post to put Verona back in front, while Tobey secured his first field goal of the match and followed with an alley-oop dunk.
Amid numerous errors from Verona, Virtus failed to fully capitalize and maintained just a single-possession advantage at 37–34. Hasty play led to another turnover and a transition gift for Bologna before Federico Zampini halted a late scoring drought for the scaligeri. Virtus held a 42–36 lead at halftime.
Andrea Loro opened the third quarter with a basket, but Bologna responded from deep to build a 52–40 cushion. Loro answered with another long-range shot as Virtus concentrated defensive pressure on Tobey with Momo Diouf. Verona steadily chipped away to pull within four points at 57–53, though they struggled to contain Virtus’s big men in pick-and-roll actions. Verona clawed back one point before the third quarter ended with Bologna leading 68–63.
Virtus opened the fourth quarter with a 7–0 run to stretch their advantage to 75–63. RJ Melendez and Tobey added scoring for Verona, with Andrews setting up Tobey for an alley-oop as part of four consecutive points for the visitors, but a subsequent offensive slump involving gifted turnovers allowed Bologna to pull ahead by 14 points.
Verona failed to return to striking distance as Bologna pushed the lead to 15 points with a minute and a half remaining, and Verona committed their 18th turnover on a traveling violation by Melendez in the closing stages as Virtus closed out the 95–81 final score.
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