By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
After losing two straight games in the Italian League, Olimpia bounced back with a great 101 – 74 victory against Pistoia.
Since the first quarter, the hosts had picked up a double-digit lead (31-20) and kept on increasing it throughout the contest. While shooting from everywhere on the court, Milan’s team even went up by 24 points in the fourth quarter (84-60). Vladimir Micov finished the game with 17 points.
Moreover, Varese and Trento picked up important home wins for the playoff positions, after defeating Cremona and Dinamo Sassari respectively.
Pesaro is fighting to remain in the Lega A, and with an impressive 77-74 over No. 1 seeded Venezia, the home side improved its record 8-21 good enough for the 15th position. Also, Virtus Bologna lost a critical game at home to Avellino and are currently in the eighth and final playoff possession, with one more game in the regular season remaining.
Finally, Brescia defeated Torino in overtime to improve its record to 20-9.
Results:
| HOME | AWAY | FT | HT | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT |
| OPENJOBMETIS VARESE | VANOLI CREMONA | 89-79 | 47-40 | 24-17 | 23-23 | 22-20 | 20-19 | 0-0 |
| BETALAND CAPO D ORLANDO | RED OCTOBER CANTU | 71-70 | 31-44 | 15-20 | 16-24 | 16-8 | 24-18 | 0-0 |
| GERMANI BASKET BRESCIA | FIAT TORINO | 83-83 | 48-34 | 21-11 | 27-23 | 16-27 | 19-22 | 15-12 |
| AX ARMANI E. OLIMPIA MILAN | THE FLEXX PISTOIA | 101-74 | 48-33 | 31-20 | 17-13 | 29-21 | 24-20 | 0-0 |
| NEW BASKET BRINDISI | GRISSIN BON REGGIO EMILIA | 75-72 | 44-30 | 22-17 | 22-13 | 16-24 | 15-18 | 0-0 |
| DOLOMITI ENERGIA TRENTINO | BANCO DI SARDEGNA SASSARI | 87-81 | 45-30 | 24-15 | 21-15 | 19-23 | 23-28 | 0-0 |
| SEGAFREDO VIRTUS BOLOGNA | SIDIGAS AVELLINO | 64-70 | 28-33 | 15-18 | 13-15 | 13-13 | 23-24 | 0-0 |
| VL PESARO | UMANA REYER VENEZIA | 77-74 | 38-37 | 20-21 | 18-16 | 22-16 | 17-21 | 0-0 |
Standings:
| # | TEAM | PTS | MP | W | L | POINTS | +/- | |
| 1 | UMANA REYER VENEZIA | 44 | 29 | 22 | 7 | 2392 – 2278 | 114 | |
| 2 | AX ARMANI E. OLIMPIA MILAN | 44 | 29 | 22 | 7 | 2377 – 2155 | 222 | |
| 3 | GERMANI BASKET BRESCIA | 40 | 29 | 20 | 9 | 2312 – 2192 | 120 | |
| 4 | SIDIGAS AVELLINO | 38 | 29 | 19 | 10 | 2414 – 2239 | 175 | |
| 5 | DOLOMITI ENERGIA TRENTINO | 36 | 29 | 18 | 11 | 2349 – 2226 | 123 | |
| 6 | OPENJOBMETIS VARESE | 32 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 2272 – 2179 | 93 | |
| 7 | SEGAFREDO VIRTUS BOLOGNA | 30 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 2254 – 2188 | 66 | |
| 8 | RED OCTOBER CANTU | 30 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 2521 – 2529 | -8 | |
| 9 | VANOLI CREMONA | 28 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 2435 – 2400 | 35 | |
| 10 | BANCO DI SARDEGNA SASSARI | 28 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 2474 – 2407 | 67 | |
| 11 | FIAT TORINO | 24 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 2340 – 2411 | -71 | |
| 12 | GRISSIN BON REGGIO EMILIA | 24 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 2218 – 2263 | -45 | |
| 13 | THE FLEXX PISTOIA | 18 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 2177 – 2364 | -187 | |
| 14 | NEW BASKET BRINDISI | 18 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 2232 – 2363 | -131 | |
| 15 | VL PESARO | 16 | 29 | 8 | 21 | 2229 – 2435 | -206 | |
| 16 | BETALAND CAPO D ORLANDO | 14 | 29 | 7 | 22 | 2058 – 2425 | -367 |
Photo Credit: Olimpia Milano