An amazing night. An amazing 78-62 win over a very talented Bayern team, featuring all its players while Olimpia kept fighting against its roster limitations, missing four players and most of its traditional scoring punch. The defense was there, the defense was everywhere especially in a masterpiece defensive effort in the crucial fourth quarter. The scoring was provided by non conventional resoruces. Devon Hall scored 19 points, most of them big shots, Giordano Bortolani added 12 in his second consecutive double-digit game, Alex Poythress scored in double figure too and helped a lot providing a 8-point much needed first quarter. Pippo Ricci added a couple of threes in his first game back. “Some of our top players struggled offensively, but everybody did a lot defensively. It was an amazing effort,” Coach Ettore Messina said.
Olimpia led the entire game. Bayern was able to tie the score up for the first time toward the end of the third quarter at 47 when Carsen Edwards made his first three of the night. Enter Devon Hall. He closed the quarter with a huge buzzer-beating three. And still, Edwards responded again with a three to start the fourth. At that point, the score was tied again at 50. And here Olimpia exploded. Hall won his personal spectacular duel with Edwards converting a three-point play. Then he added a mid-range jumper. Ricci made his second three of the night and after Coach Pablo Laso called a time-out, Giordano Bortolani added another long-range jumper to complete a 11-0 run that basically decided the game.
The offesive explosion was sustained by minutes of perfect defense. Despite a lineup featuring essentially one specialist, Devon Hall, Olimpia was everywhere, inside, outside, covering the passes lanes. Bayern was annihilated. When they regrouped a little, Olimpia was leading by 18, the biggest margin of the night.
Hall finished the evening with 19 points, going 8-for-10 from the field. Bortolani was 3-for-5 from three-point range. Both of them, and Ricci (2-for-2 from three) came off the bench providing a big spark. Bayern defense was focused on Shabazz Napier and forced him to struggle from the field. He made a long-range two-pointer in the first half and a crucial three in the second half, but he dished five assists too.
