With 28 assists and a big defensive game, Olimpia won on the road for the seventh time in this EuroLeague. Alba Berlin was defeated 84-70. After struggling to enter into the game mentally, down as many as nine points in the first quarter while missing three of the first four free throws attempted, with Kevin Punter plagued by two very early fouls, Olimpia slowly improved, tied the game early in the second on a three-point shot made Gigi Datome and never looked back. Zach LeDay led the scorers with 16 points, Kevin Punter added 14, buti t was a great team effort. Malcolm Delaney and Sergio Rodriguez combined for 14 assists, Kyle Hines in his 300th career game scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and gave out five assists. He was everywhere on the court. “I need to congratulate my players, because we looked empty at the start, we missed free throws, even with LeDay, who’s a 90 percent free-throw shooter, but we never lose our focus. Gradually, slowly, we got back in the game, we played well ay both ends of the floor. It’s never easy to beat Alba, they are caapable to always play a high-quality basketball game,” Coach Ettore Messina said at the end.

Alba recovered Luke Sikma for this game, had a lot from Jayson Granger and Ben Lammers offensively, but Olimpia – playing with no Shields and no Micov – won the rebounding battle too, was solid defensively. Datome scored 11 points in the first half and set the tone. But he was hardly alone. Kevin Punter started the second half as a man possessed. Ha made two free throws, then two threes, allowing Olimpia to respond to Alba’s hot shooting, coming out of the locker room. When shooting took some possession off, defense was always there. Rebounding never left Olimpia.

At the start of the fourth quarter, with Alba desperately trying to stay close, Jeff Brooks and Riccardo Moraschini made two consecutive threes that preparared the table for the homestretch. Brooks had even a  memorable block over Thiemann that eliminated two easy points. Olimpia improved to 12-7. “Everybody contributing, sharing the ball and playing defense, this is why we play basketball. Coach Messina’s been preaching this all season and it was great to see the results on the court,” Kyle Hines added.

Share the article with your friends and support the team

Share the article with your friends and support the team

URL Copied to clipboard! icon-share