Olimpia took control in the middle of the first quarter and never looked back. Bologna was able to shrink Milano’s lead to one point a couple of time in the second period, but eventually another run became decisive in a 90-75 win. The 15-point margin was the product of raising the pedal a little bit in the end because for most of the second half the lead was around twenty points with the biggest margin touching the 24-point mark a couple of more times. Olimpia rode Nicolò Melli hot shooting early in the game (he finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals); the Nikola Mirotic came to work using his size and post-up game to generate mismatches that Bologna wasn’t able to contain (18 points, 11 rebounds, 9/11 from the line); finally Shavon Shields with two free throws and huge corner three in transition regained the 12-point lead at the intermission. The third quarter approach was phenomenal. Stefano Tonut (a career-high 15 points), Devon Hall and Shabazz Napier each of them made huge field goals and allowed Olimpia’s lead to explode. Because of them foul troubles that plagued the team in the second half mostly were overcame. Melli was forced to stay on the court just 16 minutes; Alex Poythress and Stefano Tonut and finally Shavon Shields all had to be protected. Olimpia never felt threatened.
“I need to congratulate the players – Coach Ettore Messina said at the end – because for huge part of the game they played with a lot of intensity atthe defensive end of the floor and at the offensive end too. They share the ball, they attacked creating advantages that were well used, we exploited the mismatches and we took advantage of them with great efficiency. It was a very promising game for the rest of the season. We intend to close the regular season on a high note.”
Olimpia won its fifth consecutive home game before a sell-out crowd that never failed to support the team and finished averaging over 10,000 attendance per game, for the first time in club’s history. “It’s a great threshold and as a club we are extremely proud of it, so, Thanks to our fans,” Messina remarked wearing for once his president of basketball operations hat.
