Right when momentum of the game seemed to have shifted, maybe for the first time, toward Reggio Emilia, coming back from 13 points down to 2, riding high energy and three-pointers, especially in that moment by Riccardo Rossato, Olimpia responded with the best three minutes of the second half. A 14-2 run closed the game, 77-65. With Shavon Shields orchestrating the against against the zone defense, Milano built two three-pointers from the corner by Armoni Brooks, followed by a mid-range jumper by Shields, an assist by Shields for Josh Nebo’s dunk, and another three-pointer by Shields himself to seal the game. Olimpia dominated Game 2 for another 40 minutes, but faced an opponent who, just like in Game 1, never faltered and always believed in its strengths, clogging the middle on defense and getting a lot from the shooting of the perimeter players, first Tomas Woldetensae and then Rossato. When Olimpia’s offensive game stalled, Reggio Emilia almost closed the gap, but a consistent defense and total rebounding domination (41-28) were the deciding factors for Olimpia. Olimpia now leads the best-of-five series 2-0 with Game 3 scheduled to be playe don Thursday night in Reggio Emilia.
“I’m happy because when we struggled offensively, in the third quarter especially, the defense kept the game under control,” Coach Peppe Poeta remarked at the end. Olimpia led by 11 points in the first half but scored 13 points only in the third allowing Reggiana to come back. Once more, Reggiana was better at shooting from the outside closing with 11 threes (8-for-11 from the trio formed by Woldetensae, Rossato and Severini). Olimpia had seven but three of them took place very late in the game. And while they were crucial in securing the win, at the same time outside shooting was not brilliant. However, the defense was. “One of the best defensive game we had all year,” Poeta said at the end. Reggio Emilia was held at 65 points, 43 percent on twos and force 18 turnovers, eight more than the season league-high average. Three-point shooting kept Reggiana in the game.
Shavon Shields was great again in Game 2, leading the team with 19 points. He was in attacking mode right from the beginning. Armoni Brooks struggled with foul trouble early in the game, then exploded late with two corner threes when Reggio Emilia attempted to change the tempo using the zone defense featuring a big man right in the middle, Bryson Williams or Jaime Echenique. “We got a little stagnant against the zone but mostly I believe we missed three-pointers. We still have to move the ball more and better,” Poeta remarked. Ousmane Diop had another beautiful game in the middle, “not the first one, he’s been doing well for some time. He has the right approach, the correct mentality,” Poeta added.
