Olimpia took over in the fourth quarter prolonging a promising stretch of possessions that ended the third quarter and defeated Trieste 87-74. “It is an important win because, let alone that Trieste is a very good team who can score with the best of them, we got a lot from different players. In the end, Flaccadori, Tonut and Caruso were essential for the win,” Coach Ettore Messina said.

Tonut turned the game around late in the third when he made two straight three-pointers. After Armoni Brooks finished the third with five consecutive points, Olimpia took the lead for good. In the fourth quarter, when Olimpia played many minutes with four Italians on the court including Pippo Ricci, Willie Caruso came up big taking control of the paint at both ends of the floor on his way to a promising 10-point outing. He took the baton from Freddie Gillespie who also had a very solid game earlier and especially at the beginning of the third period, working hard in the middle. “Our defense step up a notch in the second half. Trieste can score but we held them to 29 second half points and just six in the fourth. That was good,” Messina said.

Trieste attempted to take control of the game in the middle of the second quarter after Olimpia built and squandered a six-point lead in the first period. On two consecutive threes by Markel Brown and Colbey Ross, Trieste led by as many as ten points. Olimpia responded late in the second with a 10-0 run that tied the game up at the half. After Zach LeDay had a nine-point first quarter, Shavon Shields was impressive in the second when he was perfect at driving through the lane and hitting threes. He had 15 first half points and he finished with a game-high 17.