By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The battle for the top of the standings ended on AX Armani Exchange Milan’s favor that managed to grab a 75-70 victory against FC Barcelona at home to lead all teams with 7-1 as of Round 8 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
“[Being in first place] means we are working hard and the players are putting the best effort, and nothing more than that. It’s too early. We’ve played home games and now we need to win on the road. It’s a long story but we’ve beaten a lot of good teams. That has to give us confidence in what we’re doing,” stated Ettore Messina after the win.
Barca came back from a 61-49 deficit at the end of the third quarter with a 16-0 rally early in the fourth to take the lead for the first time in the game, though Milan didn’t back down and with a 10-0 run of their own got back on track.
Luigi Datome hit a big three-pointer as the game entered crunchtime to ultimately sign off with 17 points and Sergio Rodriguez (6 points) practically sealed the final win with a mid-range shot in the last 29 seconds.
Devon Hall added 16 points for Messina’s squad, while Konstantinos Mitoglou and Shavon Shields both added 11 points.
In the meantime, Kyle Hines greeted tonight’s contest with his second-ever three in the competition as he finished the game with 5 points.
Barcelona picked up 12 points and 6 rebounds by Brandon Davies, while Nigel Hayes-Davis and Nikola Mirotic both posted 10 points and the Blaugranas fell to a 6-2 record.
Photo: EuroLeague