By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Amedeo Della Valle stepped up in the fourth quarter and pushed AX Armani Exchange Milan to an 81-74 home win over KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Della Valle shot only once for the first three quarters but exploded in the fourth scoring 13 of his 15 points while missing only one shot.
Sergio Rodriguez also scored 13 points in addition to Vladimir Micov’s 12 as Milan improved to a 6-1 record. They are the first team to reach six wins and will stay at top of the standings after Round 7 no matter the other results.
For Baskonia which now stands at a 3-4 record, Nik Stauskas scored 15 while Youssoupha Fall helped with 11 points.
“We had some really good moments and then were throwing everything to hell”
Milan coach Ettore Messina noted that although his squad could’ve handled the game much better, there were good moments and he’s happy with the win: “We had to work harder than we should have. We had some really good moments and then were throwing everything to hell, because we had maybe a couple of minutes we were not respecting the game, turning the ball over, forgetting things. They have a very very good team, you cannot give up one minute against Baksonia because of the tradition they have, because of how well-coached they are, because of the mentality they have. I am very happy with the win, I am just sorry because we probably could have gotten a bigger margin which is incredibly important in this competition. I am not lying, I don’t even watch the standings. I live day by day because this is 34 games. Bad moments will come. I just enjoy the day.”
The first half belonged to the duel between Micov and Stauskas as they scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Baskonia had a 19-14 lead after ten minutes but Milan closed the half with a 14-2 run and went ahead 40-34.
Milan reached a ten-point margin (56-46) after the break but Baskonia quickly recovered by the end of the third quarter (56-53). However, Della Valle sparked the home squad’s furious 17-0 run with which they decided the outcome.
Game Highlights
Photo Credit: Olimpia Milano