It’s a bitter pill to swallow, because the EuroLeague semifinal was decided by a single shot, the one that Corry Higgins hit with 0.8 seconds left to clinch the 84-82 Barcelona win. Olimpia played a tough game, came back from 11 points down with a dominant third quarter when it was able to score 29 points and build an eight-point lead. Barcelona, who had 51 points in the first half, but only 33 in the second, stayed in the game after a couple of unusual Nick Calathes scoring plays, and in the fourth quarter managed to regain the lead when it opted to use a small line-up with Calathes, Leandro Bolmaro and Cory Higgins together. But the man that created the most problems was Nikola Mirotic with his size and skills. He had 21 points off 13 free throws attempted.

Olimpia elected to respond with a smaller line-up, using Vlado Micov at the 4-spot. Being more aggressive at the defensive end of the floor, spreading the offense a little bit, Olimpia hanged in. Down by three, Kevin Punter hit a huge three that tied the game up once more in a whirlwind fourth period. The last minute was a struggle for both teams. The last possession was the one that decided the game. Olimpia had no fouls to give and Higgins, running the length of the court, hit the jumper.

Punter, coming off the bench, scored a game-high 23 points, his seventh season game with 20 or more points. Olimpia hit 11 threes, over time managed to lower Barcelona’s unreal first-half shooting percentages, and surprisingly won the rebounding battle, 36-30, getting 18 offensive boards (Kaleb Tarczewski and Kyle Hines had four; Malcolm Delaney grabbed seven defensive rebounds). Uncharacteristically, Milan turn the ball over 17 times, six more than its league-leading average, some of them were unforced turnovers. Vlado Micov had 14 points, had one of his best games of the season. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to secure a memorable win. On Sunday, Olimpia will face CSKA Moscow in 3rd-4th place game.