Olimpia improved its second half regular season record to 12-2 defeating Brescia 83-77 in a clash of league-leading teams. Olimpia led basically for the entire night, after a seven-three first period. Brescia got the lead twice, by a single point, after the first third quarter possession and again late in the third. Coach Ettore Messina spent a time-out and Olimpia returned to the court placing a 6-0 run. From that point on, Olimpia never trailed again and led by as many as 11 points late in the fourth. Now Olimpia has to win in Cremona to finish at least in second place its regular season with a slight chance of finishing at the top but only if Bologna will lose its last home game vs Trento.

“It was a good game for us. Brescia is a team with a lot of size and physicality. They are capable to push you out and force you to shoot a lot from the outside. We shot extremely well in the first, then in the second quarter we settled for too many threes and struggled a little bit,” Coach Messina pointed out. However, in the second half, Olimpia found a better way to mix twos and threes. “Melli scored a couple of times inside, Devon Hall attacked the rim and Shields was great at driving. When you do that, then even the threes are better looking shots,” Messina said. Shabazz Napier was huge in the second half when he made three straight threes onhis way to 19 points and eight assists; Shields added 16; Melli 13 and eight rebounds. “Our defense too was much better in the second half,” Messina finished.