By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Milutinov couldn’t have pictured a better way to spend his 26th birthday on the court and his last game of the year.
The Serbian big man set a new EuroLeague all-time record for the most offensive rebounds in a single game with 16 and finished with 17 points and a career-high 19 boards overall as CSKA Moscow beat Olimpia Milano 97 – 81 in overtime to register its 12th straight win in the competition.
Mike James led CSKA in scoring (20 points on 7-24 shots) and assists (11) while Daniel Hackett added 19 points including a pair of key 3-pointers in overtime, the first for the 82 – 87 and the other to give his team a 84 – 90 lead with 1:15 to play.
Milano didn’t manage to cover that deficit and fell to 9 – 7 after suffering its second loss in a row. Zach LeDay had 21 points plus seven rebounds, Kevin Punter scored 17 and Malcolm Delaney 14 for the “Red Shoes.”
Delaney had drained the jumper for the 79 – 79 with 11 seconds left in regulation. James then won the foul from him only to make 1-2 from the line. On the other end and with just two seconds remaining, Kyle Hines received the inbounds pass inside the paint and, after a foul by Daniel Hackett, hit one of his two free throws to force the extra period.
Milano was facing numerous problems with CSKA’s and mainly Milutinov’s offensive rebounding from early on. Dimitris Itoudis’ team had collected 16 offensive rebounds at halftime and had scored 19 second-chance points to lead 33 – 39. With Punter scoring 10 of his points in the first eight minutes of the third period, Milano caught up and then 55 – 53. The match remained close until the very end.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball