By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
“We can be a scary team,” Jordan Loyd said in a recent interview with Eurohoops, A couple of days later, he and his teammates grabbed an impressive EuroLeague win that may be a statement of their capabilities and potential.
Crvena Zvezda beat Olimpia Milano 87 – 79 on the road with Loyd scoring a game-high 17 points and dishing out five assists. Alongside the former NBA champ, Corey Walden dropped 11 out of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including two key free throws for the 77 – 85 with 1:40 remaining and following two straight 3-pointers by Milano that was trying to come back from a 12-point deficit.
Vladimir Micov (13 points), Sergio Rodriguez (11 points) and Zach LeDay (11 points) were Milano’s top scorers. The “Red Shoes” trailed for the whole second half and fell behind by 10 after a layup by Marko Simonovic and then by 12 after Walden pulled off a tough 3-point play with 2:10 to go.
Zvezda was holding a steady advantage by controlling the rebounds (28 – 15) and shooting solid, especially for an away game (59.5 percent on 2-pointers, 8-15 3-pointers). On the other end, the hosts failed to capitalize on their own perimeter shots and were unable to disrupt their opponents’ efficiency. Milano fell to 3-3 (with three games less for coronavirus-related reasons) after suffering its second straight loss.
Malcolm Delaney returned to action after an injury for Milano while Gigi Datome was out.