By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With less than ten seconds remaining in the EuroLeague game between Olimpia Milano and Anadolu Efes, Mike James was coming off his worst night of the season. He was 3/19 from the field while his squad was trailing 78 – 80, after leading by double digits at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Italian team needed a bucket to either tie it or win it. Despite his shooting struggles, James took the responsibility. And he delivered.
MIKE JAMES FOR THE WIN pic.twitter.com/NBhhmgdVJo
— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) November 2, 2018
Milano beat Efes 81 – 80 thanks to James’ game-winning triple to capture its third win in a row and improve its record to 4-1, leaving Efes to 3-2 and with the bitter taste that comes with the comeback effort that wasn’t paired with a victory.
Things could’ve turned out differently for Efes if Vasilije Micic, one of his team’s top players with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, didn’t go 0/2 from the line with 18 seconds left. The Turkish team was trailing 68 – 57 at the beginning of the final period but led by Adrien Moerman (26 points) they came back and got a lead in the final minutes, thanks to free throws by Tibor Pleiss.
Milano, that was up during the vast majority of the game, “blacked out” and scored three points in the last five minutes until James’ heroic play. With this bucket, James finished with a team-high 15 points, to go with his six assists and five rebounds. Vladimir Micov scored 14 and dished out five assists while Arturas Gudaitis had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“I played my worst game of the year but I am glad that we won – and I am happy I made the shot. I knew I was going to shoot it no matter what. I wasn’t really worried about nothing else, and I was kind of nervous when I lost the ball, but I was able to get it back and get a good shot up,” James said.