Playing on a short rest, after the Paris Basketball EuroLeague game, Olimpia resisted winning 88-85 against Brescia. Olimpia led comfortably for the whole second half, accumulating 12-point lead late in the third but some mistakes, some turnovers, some fatigue allowed Brescia to stay in the game and reduce to gap to one single point. The defense did a remarkable job, forcing a tough shot from mid-range and then Shavon Shields went 2-for-2 from the line to protect the win. “In spurts we were beautiful, but every now and then we made mistakes, turnovers, defensive communication, things like that. Today we made shooting fouls uncalled for, we spent foul when already in the penalty. This is something we need to learn to avoid,” Coach Ettore Messina said.

Five players scored in double figure for Olimpia. Neno Dimtirijevic bounced back from two early fouls and finished with 15 points and six assists. He was extremely efficient using his mid-range jumper. David McCormack scored 11 points and added seven rebounds in his best game since coming to Milan. Armoni Brooks made a high long two-pointers late in the game and finshed with 11 points himself. The rookies performed well. Shavon Shields scored 15 points too, Zach LeDay had 11. It was a collective win in the end.

Olimpia and Brescia both led by as many as five points in the first half, but the second belonged to Olimpia right from the beginning. Olimpia also struggled at controlling the foul situation. Nikola Mirotic, Neno Dimitrijevic and Ousmane Diop were in trouble from the beginning. But in the third the lead blossomed to 12 before a late three converted by Della Valle. Olimpia kept the lead throughout the fourth quarter but Brescia kept pushing and never gave up setting up the table for stealing the win in the end. “But we never lost our cohesion and that allowed us to win,” Coach Messina said.