Novices in European competition, the Parisians beat Virtus Bologna this Thursday (81-78) and find themselves 2nd in the standings after 12 matches played.
At the end of the suspense, the Parisian Basketball players got the better of Virtus Bologna (81-78) Thursday evening at home, signing an impressive eighth consecutive success in the Euroleague, for their first season in the premier competition of European basketball.
Novice at this continental level, Paris Basketball has had an almost perfect start to the season and displays a very flattering record of nine wins for three defeats, which allows it to climb alone to second place in the Euroleague rankings after the first third of the season. Only Fenerbahçe does better with nine wins and two defeats, before welcoming Milan to Istanbul, while Bayern Munich can join Paris if they succeed in Belgrade against Red Star on Friday evening.
TJ Shorts carries the Parisians with 19 points
On their floor Thursday evening, the Parisians missed the start of the match, conceding an 11-2 in the space of two minutes under Will Clyburn’s three-point shots. The gap, which rose to 11 points in favor of the Bolognese at the start of the first quarter, then gradually decreased. The Parisians took the lead at the end of the second quarter thanks to the first three-point basket made by Nadir Hifi, who then delivered an assist to Maodo Lo whose winning shot gave the locals a 5-point lead ( 38-33).
Tiago Splitter’s players never let go of control of the match, not without two big scares, one at the end of the third quarter and one at the end of the fourth quarter. While they were 11 points ahead (55-44), the Virtus closed to 2 points (61-59). But the teammates of TJ Shorts, Parisian top scorer of the match (19 pts), showed composure to regain the lead (69-59) before entering the last ten minutes.
However, they came close to disillusionment at the end of the match, when they conceded a 12-0 which allowed Bologna to come back to 77-75. In the money-time, TJ Shorts scored a free throw and a two-point basket to ensure the Parisian victory.
The Parisians will travel twice next week, to Belgrade on Tuesday to face Maccabi Tel Aviv, then to Athens three days later to face Olympiakos. The last Parisian defeat in the Euroleague dates back to October 17 on the Munich floor (109 to 107).
Senegal
