Shabazz Napier scored 28 points including a huge deep three in the fourth and then three free throws down the stretch to seal the deal in Valencia where Olimpia won its fifth straight game 88-84. When he missed the only free throw of his night, Nicolò Melli grabbed a huge offensive rebound that helped a lot in order to complete the job. Olimpia trailed by as many as ten points in the first half when Valencia responded to any attempt to take the lead with a sequence of runs. Milan kept the deficit to a minimum, three points, and finally exploded in the third quarter building a 12-point lead. Valencia had a furious fourth quarter, first with a big lineup featuring Victor Claver at the 3 and Rivero at the center for Dubljevic. Olimpia was capable to stay in control until three threes closed the gap to a single point. That was when Napoer closed the game from the line. “Our this quarter was huge, we showed a lot of cohesion, we had a lot of energy. We definitely played well. Our team was very disciplined in putting the ball in the hands of our point guards down the stretch”, Coach Messina said.

Olimpia had five players in double digit. Pippo Ricci scored three threes, eight points in the first half, while Billy Baron made two big threes in the third quarter. When Valencia attempted its first comeback of the fourth period, Kevin Pangos responded with five consecutive points, a deep three and a pull-up jumpers from mid-range. Coach Messina used never seen before line-up with Pangos and Napier together, sometimes even Billy Baron at the 3 or Stefano Tonut. Ricci played both at the 3 and the 4. Finally, Shavon Shields returned after four months. He played for some minutes in the first quarter and made a couple of great plays, a block on one end of the floor, an offensive rebound at the other. “With our key guys back we want to raise the level of our game like we did today – Coach Messina said – Realistically we have zero chance to make the playoffs. But we are working to improve our game and create confidence for the final stretch in the Italian league.”