The last game he played in Palau, Zach LeDay had to leave the team abruptly and go back to home for his dad’s death. So, this is a place he will never forget. This is why he was emotional at the end after a career-night. LeDay finished the game with 33 points and went 4-for-4 from three-point territory. In the second half he literally led Olimpia to a big 94-81 win in Barcelona.

The win materialized in the middle of the third quarter. Barcelona attempted to get away and built a nine point lead. Olimpia stayed patient, kept playing. Fabien Caseur hit a huge three to raise the pressure. All of a sudden, Olimpia was back into the game. Kevin Punter scored five consecutive points but Olimpia responded with a three by LeDay and another by Shavon Shields. At that point a 20-0 changed completely the game’s outlook. Olimpia finshed the third quarter with 36 points and a nine-poit deficit became a 16-point commanding lead. The fourth quarter was handled with no pressure. The lead reached 18 points late in the game. In the second half, Olimpia’s defense became a solid one. “We were more patient against their switching defense and more open shots came our way – Coach Ettore Messina pointed out – but mostly our defense improved a lot. It is important to point out that Barca grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first half but none in the second.”

It was obviously a big night for Nikola Mirotic. He was welcomed back with a standing ovation before the game, he then moved on to play an inspirational first quarter when Olimpia strugged offensively and came up big whenever he was needed, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds, another MVP-like game. At the end, Palau gave him more cheers, more chants, more love.

Olimpia scored more than 90 points one more time and increased its record when scoring more than 85 points to 7-1. Once more the team hit 10 threes and shot from the arc around 40 percent, the key indicators of a win. Leandro Bolmaro came back after a four-game absence and gave a lot of energy to the team. Other had key plays, helped a lot strating with Shavon Shields two-way game.

For Olimpia this is the sixth win in a row or the 8th of the last nine, a clear improvement over a 1-5 start. Next up are the defending champions of Panathinaikos on their court on Tuesday.