By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILAN, Italy – Losing in the LBA Round 2 on the road against GeVi Napoli, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan found a way to bounce back against Reggio Emilia despite suffering in the first quarter. In Mediolanum Forum, Ettore Messina’s team won 79-68 after resting in the EuroLeague due to the rescheduled encounter against Maccabi Tel Aviv, originally planned on October 12.
The former Zenit Saint Petersburg playmaker, who hasn’t started the season well in both LBA and EuroLeague, had an impressive run in the third quarter to give his team control of the game, finally ending with 12 points and 4 assists. Stefano Tonut was in pretty good shape as well, providing 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Alex Poythress, instead, added 14 points and 5 rebounds.
On Reggio Emilia’s losing side, the former Lokomotiv Kuban and Virtus Bologna power forward Kevin Hervey had 10 points but couldn’t convert from beyond the arc (0/6), while Langston Galloway and Briante Weber scored 11 points each against the EuroLeague side. The 18-year-old Mouhamed Faye, being put in the starting five by the Greek head coach, replied his trust with 7 points and 5 rebounds.
Ettore Messina’s wasn’t off to the greatest of starts, as Reggio Emilia forced the home side to eight turnovers with 2:40 minutes on the clock in the first quarter, leading by eight points (13-5). After ten minutes, the guests were leading 18-9, while Milano had ten turnovers. However, the home side stepped up in the second quarter, finding the 24-23 lead with Nicolò Melli at 5:21 on the clock and extending the scoring run to 17-0, going at halftime up 34-27 with the game on their hands.
After starting the season on a difficult note, Kevin Pangos controlled Milano‘s offense and gave the red-and-white home team the highest lead of the game with a 14-point margin (50-36) shooting from deep at 4:39 in the third. Avoiding the possibility of Reggio Emilia’s comeback considering the three-point shooting troubles (6/29, 21.0%) for Dimitris Priftis’ team, Milan went on to complete the final victory.
2023-24 LBA – Round 3 results
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano – UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia 79-68
Banco di Sardegna Dinamo Sassari – NutriBullet Treviso 80 – 76
Happy Casa Brindisi – Carpegna Prosciutto Pesaro 68 – 81
Umana Reyer Venezia – Vanoli Cremona 79 – 76
Germani Brescia – GeVi Napoli (15/10 at 17:00 CET)
Dolomiti Energia Trentino – Virtus Segafredo Bologna (15/10 at 18:30 CET)
Givova Scafati – Estra Pistoia (15/10 at 19:30 CET)
Openjobmetis Varese – Bertram Yachts Derthona Tortona (15/10 at 20:30 CET)
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano