Olimpia scored 55 points in the second half. So much for being tired after the EuroLeague Final Four. With a 93-83 impressive road win in Venezia, advanced to the Italian League championship series against Virtus Bologna. Game 1 is scheduled to be played on Saturday, June 5, in Milan. It’s going to be a best-of-seven series, with a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The semifinal was closed 3-0. Olimpia struggled a little to take control of the game, at one points trailed by seven, but it was early in the game. Gradually, Milan improved at both ends of the floor. Mitchell Watt, for one, scored 15 points in the first half, but had just four in the seconds. Olimpia built its lead, that reached 17 point in the middle of the fourth, in the third quarter when the defense held Venezia to three points, all of them from the line, in the first five minutes. The defending champions from Reyer didn’t die quietly. Between the end of the third and the fourth quarter had a stretch of 8 threes out of 9, with Austin Daye completely on fire. But Olimpia kept its composure and closed the game out.

Kevin Punter led the scorers with 19 points, Zach LeDay added 16 and Sergio Rodriguez had 11, all of them in the second half. Kyle Hines did a great job, defensively, under the offensive board and survived foul trouble because Paul Biligha did a great job especially in the first half when he was needed the most. “I’m happy because we played a solid game, we showed a lot cohesiveness, we took over in the third quarter and we contained their comeback in the fourth period. I need to congratulate my staff because after the hard week spent in Cologne for the EuroLeague Final Four I wasn’t sure we had that kind of energy, both physically and mentally. Now we have to prepare for a tough championship series,” Coach Ettore Messina said.