With nine seconds left in the overtime, Malcolm Delaney executes the assist number eight of his super game finding Shavon Shields for the winning three-pointer. The defense held the fort in the closing seconds clinching an emotional 81-79 win in the overtime, in Munich. It was a very physical, close game, with the margin never over five points. Olimpia grabbed the overtime with its defense preventing Bayern from scoring in the last possession, then led for the entire overtime until Nick Weiler-Babb from the line made the go-ahead free throws. Olimpia had one last offensive possession: Shields, who played a team-high 37 minutes, had three steals and scored nine points, made the decisive three.

Malcolm Delaney had a superior game (he scored also 17 points), Kyle Hines was tough inside scoring 16 points going five for five from the field, but many players helped throughout the game. Michael Roll scored eight consecutive points early in the game, Moraschini played 19 minutes and Datome had a crucial three at the end of the third to keep Milan within one point. And when he was needed, Sergio Rodriguez scored and assisted, playing several minutes along Delaney. Olimpia had to overcome Kevin Punter and Vlado Micov absences, but the team shot the ball well after the first period, made 10 threes out of 23 and was plagued mostly by turnovers and some missed foul shots.

“We knew, coming in, that this was going to be a tough game, against a physical team, well organized, well coached, especially missing two players. I’m happy for the win. We just made some uncharacteristic mistakes, mostly turnovers. We are not used to have 18 turnovers, but that was a physical game, played by two good, solid defenses, who switched a lot. In the end we made a couple of big shots, they missed a couple, and we won. In the EuroLeague, on the road, every game is tough, every team has talent and the so-called surprising results are not surprising at all, because everything is possible. So I’m very happy,” Coach Ettore Messina said at the end.

“We kind of struggled throughout the game, but we stuck with it, found a way to win. It’s a good win on the road to start the EuroLeague season. I think they just had good defensive strategy. They switched a lot, we overreacted instead of playing the way we play. But we overcame it,” Delaney said. “This is the EuroLeague – Kyle Hines said – There are no babies in the EuroLeague. Every team we play it will be physical competition. Especially because guys have been waiting for this a long time, they’ve been waiting months and months to be able to come back. We expected it to be a physical game, especially here against this type of team. We got to continue to play this way. We are not a finished product, we know that this season is a long ride, it’s a marathon. Our main mindset is just to continue to get better every day. That’s our main goal. As long as we continue to do that we’ll be fine at the end.”