Olimpia won its 17th EuroLeague game with a dominating performance against Baskonia, a 89-78 that doesn’t even go close to represent the story of the game itself. Olimpia took control of it in the first few possessions and never reliquinshed it. The margin gradually incresead and reached 27 points in the third quarter. Up by 15 at the half, Olimpia allowed a three-pointer in the very first second half possession and then exploded with another 15-0 run to basically close the game early. Baskonia attempted a comeback late in the third, but was pushed back once more, with Sergio Rodriguez (14 points) making three threes in the quarter. With five minutes left in the game, Coach Messina decided to entirely use the bench. Olimpia also relaxed a little bit and Baskonia was able to close the gap to 11 points. But the game story was different.

“At one point we had a huge lead and I didn’t rotate in the right way – coach Ettore Messina said – I left too many players who had been cold on the bench at the same time. That gave a sense that we thought the game was over, so that’s my responsibility. I’ve got to do a better job in keeping the rotation right and efficient. Until that moment the team had played very well, one of our best games recently, considering it was our fifth game in nine days. So I can just congratulate them and make sure I do a better job in the next game.”

Olimpia made 13 threes and dominated the boards once more, 44-26. Nicolò Melli had his second consecutive double-digit rebounding game with 11. He also set the tone early converting all his 4 field goal attempts in the first period. Devon Hall led the scorers with 15 points, going 5-for-6 from the field, Troy Daniels had another efficient game, scoring 13 points in 21 minutes on the court. Even foul trouble that plagued Kyle Hines (8 points, 6 rebounds) and Malcolm Delaney didn’t stop Milano. “We controlled the game pretty much. The last 2 or 3 minutes we didn’t play good basketball, but we were in control of the game so we take home this great win and keep on going. We handled the game very well, we spread the minutes, so it was a good game for us,” Nicolò Melli said.