Olimpia returned where it belongs. To the Italian league finals after a defensive effort good enough to hold Venezia at 60 points to clinch a berth with a 4-2 win. Olimpia won 68-60, led by as many as 13 points in the third, pushed Venezia back when the home team was capable to comeback and twice it tied the score. In the end the defense held on and Gentile and Simon used a combination of strength, size and skills to attack the defense from the low post position. Olimpia came back from a difficult first half when it built a 4-point lead in spite of getting no offensive rebounds uncharacteristically. Gentile struggled with foul trouble mostly called at the offensive end. He finished with 11 and became the all-time third best playoffs scorer in Olimpia’s history. “It’s been a tough season, a struggle, really for everybody here, management, coaches, players – Coach Jasmin Repesa said – a lot of new players, an incredible number of injuries. But we stayed together and we have to stay together and keep our concentration and energy because in spite of everything we are four wins away from the championship trophy”.