Virtus Bologna suffered a Benetton Treviso backlash on Sunday in a 89-65 defeat at the reigning champions.

Trailing 38-37 at half-time, the Palaverde side then outscored Virtus 25 -9 in the third quarter and cruised to victory.

The result provides Benetton with a much-needed boost after a nightmare week for David Blatt's team.

A Euroleague exit at Dynamo Moscow was coupled with a 12-point deduction by the Italian Basketball Federation that saw them drop from fourth to 14th in the Lega A standings after Erazem Lorbek's signing took them over the number of registered players allowed.

"We have played for our fans," said Benetton Treviso coach David Blatt.

"People have understood the delicate time we are going through and have helped us to give us that extra energy we needed.

"This is the best possible way of reacting to what has happened, to have beaten convincingly, the second-placed team in the standings."

The defeat was just the eighth in 24 games for the visitors, who will play in the EuroCup Final Four next month in Girona.

Virtus coach Zare Markovski said: "Compliments to Treviso, but we would have been better off not playing the third quarter.

"We have found a very motivated and decisive rivals and we have not been able to react to their punches.

"We have lost some players to injury along the eay and we were unable to do the usual rotation in the key moments of the game."

Virtus stars Brett Blizzard and Christian Drejer were not fully fit for the game.

Blizzard had an ankle injury that limited his practice in the build-up to the contest, although he did manage to score 14 points.

Drejer picked up a knock in the EuroCup All Star Game and was held to an uncharacteristic five points.

Even had they been at full strength, however, there was no stopping a rampant Benetton, a team that edged them in the Coppa Italia final last month.

Terrell Lyday top scored for the home side with 17 points, while Marcus Goree was also in fine form adding 16 points and six rebounds.

American Travis Best was the game's top scorer, sinking 18 points in a losing cause for Virtus, who lost for just the eigth time in 24 games.

Armani Jeans Milano are also 16-8 after a hard-fought 79-77 win at Climamio Bologna.

Dante Calabria was in imperious form with 23 points, including six of 11 from three-point range.

Montepaschi Siena bounced back from last week's defeat to Lottomatica Roma with a convincing 111-83 victory over bottom side TDShop.it Livorno.

Romain Sato stole the plaudits with 28 points and 10 rebounds for the away side as they improved to 20-4.

Premiata Montegranaro's efforts proved fruitless as they slipped to a 98 86 Tisettanta Cantu despite his 23 points and eight rebounds from Valerio Amoroso.

A 30-point haul from Ramel Curry helped Air Avellino sink relegation rivals Bipop Carire R.Emilia 80-84 in their crunch clash.

Siviglia Wear Teramo earned a surprise 85-83 victory over play-off contenders Whirlpool Varese, while Legea Scafati were 92-63 winners over Upea Capo d'Orlando.

Elsewhere, Angelico Biella cruised to a 93-73 scoreline over Snaidero Cucine Udine and Lottomatica Roma brushed aside Eldo Napoli 71-54.