Milan – TheOlimpia Milan responds present to the challenge against Germani Brescia which was worth the first place in the standings together with Virtus Bologna. It’s a long “melee” against a never tamed Brescia, finding the success 83-77.
A truly playoff match played at the Forum between two teams that could very likely find themselves in the semi-finals. This is because with Virtus Bologna’s away success a home victory will be enough for the Bianconeri to finish first, while Brescia regrets having slipped to third place after a great season lived in the lead. Milan, however, fails to overturn direct confrontation (in the first leg Germani had won by 8), but it will be enough for them to win the last round against an already safe Cremona to at least reach second place.
Armani finds a glacial Shabazz Napier 10/10 on free throws and 8 assists and coach Messina squeezes a lot out of it Shavon Shields who played a full 34 minutes, finishing with an all-round game of 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Under the boards, a dominant player wasn’t enough for Brescia Miro Bilan who even against Euroleague big men finished with 20 points (10/12 in free throws) and 28 in rating, did not find the best evening from former player Della Valle (3/9 shooting from the field), as from Petrucelli ( 8 points in 16′), but understandably so given that the native was returning after the injury.
Milan is very strong game in the match so much so that at the end of the first quarter, with a triple from Flaccadori, they had already extended the score to 28-21. Brescia is on the ball, returns dragged by Cournooh’s energy and comes close to 37-36, also reacting immediately to Milan’s new +5 (41-36) with Della Valle’s baskets which make it 41-40 at interval. In recovery opening Gabriel overtakes (41-42), but Milan tries to take control of the match with two triples from Napier (51-46). It’s a continuous back and forth, Massinburg leads the guests 58-59, Hall and Shields give it 64-59 in the 29th minute at EA7. It is Shields himself who tries to extend the lead for the white team with a triple to make it 71-63 in the 35th minute, Napier finds the 3 free throws which would also turn the direct clash around (76-65), like Melli the support of +10 (81 -71).
Brescia doesn’t give up, they try again with Gabriel from the arc for 81-77 at -22″.It’s too late for a comebackbut it serves at least to keep the direct clash in favor, while Napier seals Milan’s victory from the line. The last round of the regular season is next Sunday with the red and whites still involved in a Lombard derby, this time away on the Cremona pitch.
EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN-GERMANI BRESCIA 83-77 (28-21, 41-40; 64-61) MILAN: Bortolani ne, Tonut 5, Melli 13, Napier 19, Ricci 5, Flaccadori 5, Hall 9, Caruso 5, Shields 16, Hines, Valentine 2, Voigtmann 2. Coach Messina BRESCIA: Christon ne, Gabriel 12, Bilan 20, Burnell 4, Massinburg 13, Tanfoglio ne, Della Valle 12, Petrucelli 8, Cobbins, Cournooh 6, Akele 2, Porto. All. Skinny Note: 2-point shots: MI 15/25, BS 16/32; 3-pointers: MI 13/31, SR 8/23; free throws: MI 14/15, BS 21/23; rebounds: MI 27 (Melli 8), BS 31 (Gabriel 5); assists: MI 16 (Napier 8), BS 15 (Della Valle 6)
