Olimpia took control in the second half when the defense carrierd the team to the 87-71 win over Reggio Emilia on the road, in the Italian League opening game. After leading by four at the half, 44-40, Olimpia raised its defensive efficiency up a notch and never looked back. Olimpia forced 16 turnovers, allowed just three offensive rebounds and accumulated 22 assists. Sergio Rodriguez, scored just three points, but had nine assists and zero turnover. Zach LeDay made 10 straight free throws, so Olimpia overcame also Kevin Punter’s injury early in the third quarter. “They tried to control the tempo, to prevent us from running, the used the shot-clock every single time and did it very well – Coach Ettore Messina said at the end – In the second half, our defense won the game for us, but we moved the ball well, too, building good looks. The negative aspect is Kevin’s injury on top of Vlado Micov and Malcolm Delaney problems.” Gigi Datome had an oustanding first half, capped by a buzzer-beating four-point play. Kyle Hines led all the rebounders with seven, but he scored also 12 points. “We are still coming together, looking for the right chemistry, but we won the game defensively, that’s what I liked – LeDay said – In the first half we scored a lot of points, but we gave up too many of them. The second half was different.”