Olimpia completed an historic EuroLeague regular season, clinching the win number 21, a club-record, and the 4th in the playoffs by defeating Efes Istanbul, coming off 11 wins in the last 12 games, 98-75. Olimpia led for the length of the game, held a 10-point lead at the half and then when Efes used its stars all together, Shane Larkin, Vasa Micic and Rodrigue Beaubois, Olimpia extended the lead and closed the game off. “Obviously, we took advantage of Efes’ lack of motivations, but it was a big win, especially because when they had their starters on the court we managed to improve, and we are happy to have Malcolm Delaney and Jeremy Evans back with us,” Coach Ettore Messina said at the end.

It was a collective effort once more for Olimpia. Shavon Shields, coming off the bench, made his first seven shots and finished with a game-high 19 points, Kevin Punter came up big in the third quarter when it was time to push Efes back, Jeremy Evans had a 10-point, 7-rebound night, going five-for-five from the field. Sergio Rodriguez had 10 assists for the night. Zach LeDay and Vlado Micov also scored in double figure. “It has been a great regular season for us – Coach Messina added – in such uncertain circumstances. At one point we realized that 19 wins were the minimum to hope to get into the playoffs and somehow we managed to win 21 games. The road games, many of them big, gave us the type of confidence needed to have a great season.”

Olimpia will face Bayern Munich with home-court advantage in the playoffs. It’s the first Olimpia’s appearance since 2014 and the third in the last thirty years. “It’s a great result, now as a club we have to keep this consistency, stay there for a while. The series will be a difficult one, they won 21 games for a reason, Bayern is a well-coached team, a tough one. It’s up for grabs, little things and staying healthy will be crucial for everybody. We defeated them twice, but we are talking about two completely different games,” Messina finished.