With 6:06 to play in the game, after leading for the entire night several times by as many as ten points, and 12 in the third quarter, Olimpia found itself down by two points on a Sylvain Francisco deep three. Trailing in a game led from wire-to-wire lasted all of 15 seconds. Shavon Shields picked the right time in his 17-point night to make his only three of the night. The three-pointer gave Olimpia the lead for good. A few possessions later, Nico Mannion completed a marvelous four-point play from the corner. Olimpia in the end prevailed 89-87 but Zalgiris shrank the margin on a last second three made by Lonnie Walker when the game was finished.

Zach LeDay set the tone early in the game. He scored 18 points in the first half alone then finished the game as leaders do. He made his free throws and scored on a driving hook shot that essentially kept Zalgiris from being threatening. He had 26 points for the night and a career-high 13 made free throws, with no misses. He was huge once again, accumulating 36 personal rating points. The other big night belonged to Nico Mannion itself. He approached the game with aggressiveness, made the first two shots and never relented. In the second half, he used the same approach early and made some perfecetly executed penetration. Mannion set several personal records: points (21), rating (27), rebounds (seven), two-pointers (six). “I don’t know whether he is underrated or less, I now that we are happy he is here. Mannion was the hero back in 2021 when Italy defeated Serbia in Belgrade to qualify for the Olympics. He spent one season with the Warriors learning his craft from the best, under the best coaches. And he is still very young,” Coach messina added.

However, it was a collective effort. One more time, Olimpia won the game scoring more than 85 points, the key threshold this season (now it is 11-1 in this kind of games) and inflicted 89 points to the defense that allows less points than any other team. “A couple of times we stuck the ball on one side, but overall we moved it and shared it really well. Give credit to the players, they deserve it after the tough loss in Munich, how they bouned back. We attacked the switches, especially Mannion, and we used LeDay’s post-up plays,” Messina remarked. Freddie Gillespie was great at protecting the rim; Shavon Shields had a thunderous second half; Stefano Tonut and Leandro Bolmaro tried hard to confuse Zalgiris isolation-heavy offense relaying essentially on three perimeter players, Francisco, Walker and Deividas Sirvydis; Armoni Brooks made a couple of great baskets in the first half. “And Neno Dimitrijevic gave us a lift off the bench. He was very effective both in the first and second half,” Messina said.