With 49 seconds left in the game and the score tied once again at 80, Olimpia’s big three came up big. Shavon Shields closed a marvelous game by attacking the rim as he did for the entire second half. He was fouled, went to the line and made his free throws. That was not a small feat since unexplainably Olimpia struggled from the stripe all night long. Shields was 0-for-3 up to that moment. But he made the most impactful foul shots of the night. 32 seconds remained in the game. So the job was not done yet. Defense came up big too. Like it did all night and mostly during the minutes the offense stagnated a little in the second half. “Causeur made a huge defensive play,” Coach Ettore Messina remarked at the end.
Olimpia’s defense forced the turnover. Zach LeDay, who struggled from the line himself missing three out of four after making 39 consecutive free throws entering into this game, when they counted the most didn’t fail. Ha made two and opened up a four-point definitive lead. Finally, there was time for one more trip to the line. Nikola Mirotic was the only who didn’t struggle at making his free throws. He converted both and finished the game with 22 points.
Olimpia won the game vs AS Monaco 86-80. After a sluggish start when it trailed by nine at one point, 13-4, Fabien Causeur changed momentum with defense and clutch shot making. Olimpia took control late in the second quarter when Shavon Shields, Nikola Mirotic and Stefano Tonut made a few clutch threes to extend the lead to seven point at intermission. Remarkably, Olimpia scored 31 points in the second period alone, despite poor free-throw shooting. The lead grew up to ten points a few times in the third quarter, but Monaco stayed in the game. The fourth quarter became a battle when Olimpia looked to be a little fatigued and held on the defense to stay ahead. Defense and desperation. Ricci grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds, Stefano Tonut had a huge tip-in at a crucial juncture. Still, it wasn’t enough. Monaco tied the game up with a Elie Okobo huge three-pointer. At that point, the game became a spectacular one. “Our big players came up big down the stretch,” Messina said.
With the score tied for the first time in the second half, Nikola Mirotic made a terrific three, giving Olimpia a three-point lead with two minutes and half left in the game. Okobo, who took the offense over in the fourth quarter, was fouled and made his free throws, cutting the margin to one, before on a turnover Alpha Diallo had the easy lay-up that gave Monaco the lead, 78-77, 1:51 left in the game. And again Mirotic showed his heart and desire. He attacked the rim, scored, was fouled and din’t miss his free throw, so Olimpia went up by two again. Olimpia defended well but didn’t score at the other end of the court, so Okobo got fouled again and again made his foul shots. With 49 seconds left in the game, the score was tied again at 80. And the Shields took over, the defense erected its wall and Olimpia closed the game off 86-80.
