A 4-for-27 three-point shooting night killed Olimpia’s chances in the Italy Cup semifinal game against Venezia. Olimpia lost 67-63, in spite of a great defensive effort, a terrific first quarter, when it built a 12-point lead, an excellent rebounding game. “Venezia deserved the win – Coach Ettore Messina said – they had a difficult first quarter, when we played really well, but didn’t lose confidence and kept playing like they always do. We got nervous, we lost patience when we started missing open shots. In the end, we had another chance but a rebound doomed us.” Olimpia had a seven-point lead at the end of the first period, not enough after eight remarkable minutes, with offensive boards, steals, transition opportunities. When the shots stopped going in, Venezia came back, cut the lead at two at halftime and made its move early in the third. Olimpia went down by as many as ten points on different moments, then its defense took over early in the fourth quarter. Venezia was unable to score for more than five minutes, but the deficit was still four points because Olimpia couldn’t hit an outside shot, then missed several foul shots. The deficit was reduced to one, then two, then Michael Bramos missed three free throws, but the ensuing rebound was conquered by Mitchell Watt. He made the lay-up and that was the end.