When it counted the most, Olimpia characteristically erected its wall right from the beginning. “We were the aggressors, we didn’t wait for them, we went for them,” Coach Ettore Messina pointed out. Game 7 was hard-fought, a physical battle as expected, but Olimpia controlled the game wire to wire, trailed only after the first Jordan Mickey’s field goal. Olimpia led by as many as 16 points, responded every time because the defense was outstanding, holding the incredible shooter, Marco Belinelli, scoreless and partly was responsible for that. Virtus was held to nine points in the first quarter because of a closing Milos Teodosic’s three. In the third quarter when the game was potentially on the line, Virtus scored five points. It was a 67-55 gem that meant the 30th championship in club’s history, the back-to-back for the first time since 1987 and a huge triumph before a capacity crowd. Again.

Gigi Datome, the 35-year-old warrior, coming off a tough season, marred by injuries, illness, a lot of problems, came up big during the playoff, but Game 7 was all on another level. He made his fist six field goals, starting with two straight at-the-rim dunks and finished with a game-high 16 points. When Bologna on its last leg used Teodosic, Belinelli, and Hackett all together, used the zone defensively trying to take advantage of the only problem Olimpia experienced throughout the night (8-for-27 three-point shooting, only two threes in the first half), Datome made a huge three that killed momentum. Billy Baron then finished the job after a great team effort. Datome was the first Italian to get the Finals’ MVP award for Olimpia after Alessandro Gentile did it in 2014.

Olimpia was able to overcome Nicolò Melli’s foul troubles too. He had two after two minutes. Essentially the calls ruled him out as a deserving MVP candidate. But he was able to save energy and at the start of the third quarter he was all over the floor. The third period was a struggle for everybody. Nobody scored for a while, but Olimpia found a way to increase the lead, because Melli scored twice in a row, a dunk, and an acrobatic lay-up. It was a triumph for the club, a night when history was made.

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