Olimpia led for the entire game in Reggio Emilia then resisted to all-out assault launched by Reggiana in the final quarter and won 72-68. “For most of the game, we moved the ball and hit the open man. It was a very good game, against a very good team, with quality players, on a difficult court when winning is never easy. We were coming off the Kaunas game 48 hours earlier, it wasn’t simple. At the end, we struggled, probably we were fatigued a little bit. Our Captain made two crucial free throws and hit a huge fade-away,” Coach Ettore Messina pointed out. In his native Reggio Emilia, Melli came up big in the fourth quarter when Olimpia was settling too much on three-pointers. He got the ball inside on a Shields assist and converted both free throws. On the ensuing possession, he made a complicated turnaround jump shot. Mirotic closed the game from the line, a 72-68 deserved win.

Olimpia hit the ground running, had a huge first quarter, closed up by 13, 24-11. In the first half, with Mirotic hitting threes and Tonut attacking the rim on a series of fastbreak opportunities, Olimpia led by as many as 18 points before going to the locker room eight points up. Again, in the third quarter Olimpia started well, led by as many as 17 again, anche was up 60-46 after three quarters. Reggio Emilia attempted a big rally: Galloway hit a three, then three free throws, Jamarr Smith added another three and suddenly Reggio Emilia was back in the game while Olimpia missed some free throws too. After Melli’s four consecutive points, Mirotic made two free throws to close his 18-point night.

Stefano Tonut however was really big, finishing the game with 19 points, 8-for-9 from the field including three three-pointers. His energy was all around the floor both defensively and offensively.