When Michael Eric scored on a break in the fourth quarter first possession, Vitoria was within one point one more time. Olimpia’s attempt  to kill the game in the third, when it built a 10-point margin was almost erased. Then, Amedeo Della Valle happened. Again.  And Olimpia won over Kirolbet Vitoria 81-74 extending its winning streak to six. The sharpshooting guard made a corner three, then stole the ball from Pierria henry and converted. His personal 5-0 run, re-established Milan’s control over the game. But Olimpia didn’t stop there. Neither did Della Valle. The run became 17-0, the lead blew up to 18 and Della Valle had 13 points, including another three and three free throws made after being fouled on a perimeter attempt. Della Valle for the second time scored 15 points – all in the second half – and tied his career-best set two weeks ago against Fenerbahce. “I’m impressed – Coach Ettore Messina said – I knew he could be a good part of our team, I didn’t imagine he could have this kind of impact. Amedeo comes to work hard every day, he doesn’t speak much and get the job done. Even at the defensive end of the floor. Give credit to Tom Bialaszewski and Mario Fioretti: they always find the right match-up for him.” Della Valle was the crucial scorer in the fourth quarter, Vlado Micov scored 12 points in the first half when Kaleb Tarczewski was the most efficient of the big men, but Coach Messina indicated the aggressiveness of the second period as the key of the game. “We raised our intensity, in the first period their pick and roll killed us, then Shelvin Mack and Della Valle put great pressure on their ball handlers.” Mack scored 10 points and had a great stretch of plays in the second quarter, when he assisted Tarczewski for an easy dunk, then stole the ball and assisted Kaleb again for two free throws converted and finally scored on a drive. There was another key that Messina pointed out to: “Shengelia had been Player of the Week twice in a row, we had a great team effort over him.” Olimpia had five players scoring in double figure, many guys helped, including Michael Roll with his terrific shooting ability and Luis Scola, who was plagued by early foul troubles, but came back late in the game to make a couple of short jumpers during the final run. “My only regret: we couldn’t keep the margin that we built, but they are a competitive team, they never give up, they are well-coached by Perasovic. It was a difficult game and we won.”, Messina said at the end.

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