Cremona enchants and deceives its fans by leading for almost the entire match but in the end Olimpia Milano wins. A shower of triples from Cremona for three quarters with McCullough as the protagonist as in the first leg. Milan was resurrected by taking advantage of an inspired Mirotic and in the final point by point they found a perfect Melli first in scoring the winning triple then in stopping McCullough in the locals’ last attempt. With this victory and the results of the other fields, Milan is second in the standings.
Quintets:
Cremona: Davis, Pecchia, McCullough, Golden, Eboua
Milan: Tonut, Melli, Caruso, Napier, Shields
1st quarter: Devastating start by McCullough who scores 10 points in less than 3 minutes with 3 triples. Vanoli thus escapes with a double-digit lead with Milan struggling enormously in attack while in defense it suffers a hail of triples from the local team. Shields with 4 points in a row from the line after Davis’ unsportsmanlike kick turns Olimpia back on but Lacey towers over with 8 points in a row allowing Cremona to extend their lead. In the final 2/2 of Mirotic with Vanoli closing the first half at 26-17.
2nd quarter: Milan increases the defensive intensity and in fact Cremona gets lost in attack. Flacadori leads Olimpia to the comeback but Vanoli manages to react with the Eboua-Lacey-McCullough trio. Cremona missed opportunities to get back above the double-digit lead and so Mirotic brought Olimpia back into contact with a few free throws. In the final, Ricci misses the triple and so Cremona ends the first half of the match at 39-35.
3rd quarter: Eboua and Golden push Vanoli but in this phase Mirotic definitely lights up: 8 points in a row for the former Barca both from below and from distance which bring Milan back into contact. Melli and then Ricci with 4 points give Olimpia the first lead in the fifth minute. Zanotti scores the triple which reignites Vanoli then Adrian with two more keeps the score balanced, equalizing the plays of a Ricci on fire. In the final, Milan doesn’t find the way to the basket and so Cremona ends the third quarter at 54-53.
4th Quarter: Another offensive duel between Mirotic and the Adrian-Zanotti pair with the gap still remaining unchanged. Neither team manages to make an escape but it is a continuous back-and-forth between actions in the area and shots from outside. Cremona puts their head forward with Piccoli and taking advantage of an unsportsmanlike pass from Mirotic Eboua scores 2 free throws which are worth +4 with 1 minute to go. Davis makes a mistake, Mirotic makes 2/2 from the line with Cremona on +2 with 45 seconds left. Cremona makes another mistake, perfect circulation by Milan who finds Melli in the corner who scores the triple leaving only 1.2 on the clock. Melli blocks McCullough and so Milan wins 73-72.
Vanoli Cremona 72-73 Olimpia Milan
Vanoli Cremona: Eboua 10, Adrian 13, Davis 10, Pecchia, Vecchiola, Lacey 10, Piccoli 2, McCullough 16, Golden 5, Zanotti 6 All. Cavina
Olimpia Milano: Bortolani, Tonut 2, Melli 7, Napier 6, Ricci 8, Flaccadori 5, Hall 2, Caruso 2, Shields 15, Mirotic 25, Hines, Voigtmann 1. All. Messina
