Photo Gallery: Virtus (Italy) vs CSKA

Virtus (Italy) vs CSKA: 83-85

From the very first minute of the game CSKA was hurting. The team suffered it’s first major injury of the season. With 58 second gone in the game, Lithuanian forward Darius Songaila, having scored the first two points of the game, jumped to try and block the shot of his opponent Alessandro Frosini and came down wrogn, falling with a loud scream. In the meantime, Frosini was able to get to the rim and tie the score at 2-2. The trainers hurried onto the floor to help Songaila and look at the injury, after which the Lithuanian left the floor in the arms of his teammates. It was clear that CSKA would have to play the remaining 39 minutes without the services of one of its best players. And that’s how it was. "From the very beginning we gave the opponents an edge," said CSKA head coach Dusan Ivkovic at the post-game press conference. "I don’t like to say that any one player on the team is the best player, because I put most of the emphasis on our play as a team. But Darius certainly means a lot to CSKA. We run a lot of our offense through him. It won’t be easy to find a replacement for him."

Songaila’s injury was the first for the CSKA roster this season. The initial diagnosis given by team doctor Aleksandr Zykov was a strained ankle ligament. A more accurate assessment of the injury should be given after a full examination to take place in Moscow. More than likely, however, Songaila won’t be able to play for the Lithuanian national team in its next three games in the qualification tournament for the 2003 European championships.

Ivkovic brought in American center Chris Gatling to replace Songaila. And they didn’t miss a beat! The NBA veteran hasn’t been playing better and better and outworking everyone in practice for nothing. Much thanks to him, the Army team had an advantage under the basket on the offensive (CSKA notched 38 points altogether in the paint compared to Bologna’s 22) and defensive end (up until the fourth quarter, in which Gatling was visibly tired, the Army team held a rebounding advantage).

By the way, Virtus found the right answer to CSKA’s active play. The hometeam’s American guards Charlie Bell and Derrick Dial began to work together. The latter presented more problems for the CSKA defense than any other Virtus player. Aside from the fact that Ivkovic constantly switched up defenders, Dial was able to get to the hoop instinctively, even with his defender’s hand in his face blocking his view. He shot 86% from inside the 3-point arc after the second quarter, 89% after the third.

But CSKA didn’t stop trying to halt the American. And at the end, having missed the shot to win the game, he admitted in an interview with Italian journalists: "It would have been better if I hadn’t scored at all in the first 30 minutes but played well in the final quarter. I just didn’t have any energy left. I was just tired at the end." Be that as it may, Dial’s play quickly put CSKA in the position of having to play catch-up. With 4 seconds until the end of the first quarter, the American had help Bologna build a 6-point lead.

The Army team threw everything they had into their defense and continued to play effectively underneath, where neither world champion with the Yugoslavian national team Dejan Koturovic nor young David Andersen could compete with them. With 5:42 left in the first half, Panov hit the first 3-pointer for the visitors and gave CSKA a 32-31 lead. It was a back-and-forth game up until the beginning of the final quarter. Only in the final period were the visitors able to steal the initiative. J.R. Holden played hard: the American point guard, just as he was in the Real Madrid game, was the team’s catalyst, breathing life into the offense. With less than 4 minutes gone in the fourth quarter the scoreboard at the Palamalagutti arena showed 75-64 in favor of the visitors. An 11-point lead in the final quarter of an away game is a solid accomplishment which should guarantee a victory. However, the Army team almost squandered it, suddenly deciding to play not to lose. The strategy didn’t work. Virtus, behind their Americans, Frosini and Ruslan Avleev (by the way, the Russian forward had one of the best games of any Bologna player) cut the lead to 82-80 with 1:22 until the final buser.

With a minute left in the game, CSKA guard Theodoros Papaloukas stepped to the line for two foul shots. The Greed had entered the game for the first time just 30 seconds earlier and wasn’t able to get properly warm. As a result, he made one of to, bringing the score to 83-80.

Bell answered by hitting a 3-pointer to even up the score at 83-83. Neither team was able to score for the next 40 seconds. But with 8 seconds left in the game, Bell’s nerves gave in, and he fouled Holden. The Army American, who is usually not too stead from the line, nailed both shots and put the visitors up 85-83.

The final seconds seemed like an eternity. However, Virtus wasn’t able to take advantage. CSKA nabbed their first victory over Virtus in Bologna in 10 years. And now the Army club stands sturdily atop the leaderboard of Group C of the Euroleague.