It was a battle just like one week earlier against Bayern. And Olimpia won again, this time 66-64. After Nicolò Melli grabbed a huge offensive rebound and made one free throw, Olimpia’s defense was terrific. Bruno Cerella touched the ball on Diamantidis’s drive but there were still slightly more than one second to play. After the ensuing time-out Diamantidis was fouled by Cerella. Coach Banchi called a time-out and Diamantidis missed his first attempt forcing himself to intentionally missing the second. Olimpia preserved the win, deservedly because it led basically from wire to wire. Daniel Hackett was great again scoring 21 points, his third consecutive game with more than twenty points. But Bruno Cerella was huge in spite of scoring just two points because his defense especially late on Diamantidis was phenomenal. Olimpia qualified for the Top 16. It did by beating Panathinaikos entering in the right way not just because PGE Turow lost in Munich.

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