Petteri Koponen Watch: Halloween Edition

Hippo dropped us an update on Petteri Koponen. The Finns will be heard. Check out the Finnagler in action here .

Petteri Koponen celebrated All Hallow's Eve by sneaking back into Italian Serie A team Virtus Bologna's starting line-up in an away game against Bancatercas Teramo. Virtus managed to snatch a 66-69 (41-34) hard-fought victory.

Brett Blizzard's (Best name of all time? Perhaps.-Ed. ) three almost consecutive three pointers set the tone early on, but Italian national team sharpshooter Valerio Amoroso caught fire and Bobby Jones took Bancatercas Teramo up by seven at half. Amoroso continued carrying his team in the third quarter, but after Jones' foul trouble, Bologna was able to shake opening difficulties. Three-pointers by Koponen and Viktor Sanikidze brought Virtus within four (63-59 with seven minutes remaining), David Moss tied the game with just five minutes remaining and LeRoy Hurd sank a wild three-pointer to put Virtus up 63-66.

Virtus' team defense was the key in the decisive minutes. Scoonie Penn scored his only points in the beginning of last minute, extending Virtus' lead to 64-68. Ryan Hoover's free throws brought Teramo within two and LeRoy Hurd managed to sink one out of two, but Teramo got the last possession. Drake Diener's last second three point shot, however, was swatted away by Georgian forward Sanikidze.

Koponen played sparingly, only 14 minutes in the game. He finished with six points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist. Next week, Koponen and Bologna face struggling Armani Jeans Milano at home. If Koponen starts alongside Scoonie Penn, he will most likely face the task of guarding Milano's Alex Acker.


Bancatercas Teramo - Virtus Bologna 66-69 (20-18, 41-34, 56-51)

Teramo: Valerio Amoroso 18/6, Bobby Jones 14/5, Drake Diener 9/7/3ast.
Virtus: LeRoy Hurd 16/8, David Moss 15/5/3ast/4stl, Brett Blizzard 9/2.

Petteri Koponen: Min 14, 2pt 0/1, 3pt 1/2, Ft 3/4, Pts 6, Reb 2, Ast 1, Stl 2, To 2, Pf 1, Start.


-Hippo