Olimpia won its seventh straight home EuroLeague game defeating Barcelona 84-76 after leading by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter. After trailing by as many as seven points in the first quarter, Olimpia fixed its defense, somehow managed to resist in the rebounding battle and executed marvelously at both ends of the floor. Barcelona, who entered the game with a chance to tie up for first place in the standings, was hold under 38 percent from the field. Offensively, Olimpia had 21 assists and just nine turnovers, “a difficult feat to accomplish against such an organized, long team like Barcelona. They have size, long arms and can switch consistently, but we moved the ball and hit the open man,” Coach Ettore Messina said. Although it was too late for a playoff push, Olimpia managed to win its ninth game over a 12-game stretch. “We played together one more time, the crowd enjoyed another good game from our part. The atmosphere was huge,” the Coach added reflecting on the meaning of having 11.300 people attending a game with no playoff implications.

Olimpia had five players scoring in double figure led by Shabazz Napier’s 18 points. The small point-guard took over in the second half, while Kevin Pangos, who had only three points, spelled him consistently hitting the open men. he had five assists for the night. But it was the Captain, Nicolò Melli to set the tempo early when he made two threes in a row and kept Barcelona’s defense honest. He had 11 points and six rebounds while keeping Nikola Mirotic under control because of another defensive gem. Kyle Hines scored in double digit too (10 points, five rebounds), Pippo Ricci was huge (10 points, 3-for-4 from the field), Billy Baron had another hot shooting night in a Milan’s win (12 points) and Brandon Davies who replaced Johannes Voigtmann in the second half (the German had a right ankle injury) did his part as well. “Everybody was ready to play,” Messina pointed out. Devon Hall came back to the EuroLeague after a long absence and performed defensively; Shavon Shields still rusty at shooting the ball was great at defending the point-guard and moving the ball. He had five assists for the night.