By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Narrowly holding on down the stretch, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan completed a perfect double-game week in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
After defeating AS Monaco, the Italy champions edged out Fenerbahce Beko, 77-76, in the Forum on Friday.
The visitors were coming off 11 straight wins across all competitions, including winning ING Turkiye Kupasi in February.
Banking in the go-ahead bucket with 35 seconds left in Round 31 of the Regular Season, his only points in the fourth quarter of the nerve-wracking affair, former Nebraska standout Shavon Shields highlighted a 15-point effort to go with five assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
Cooling down after a fast start, the team coached by Ettore Messina blew a 17-point lead and trailed by three points in crunch time. Regaining the lead with seven unanswered points featured two from Shields and the remaining five from Nikola Mirotic. The former EuroLeague MVP finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
“We were up the whole game until they went up by one point. And then I think at that moment we made a couple of big plays and a couple of big stops. We found a way with our players to win the game,” recapped Messina.
Facing his former team from 2017 to 2019, team captain Nicolo Melli drew a game-high 17 points behind 7/10 field goals. He also piled up three rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Returning to action, Alex Poythress added nine points and six rebounds as his side went up to 14-17.
“Fenerbahce is a very good team. They are probably the most in-shape team in the EuroLeague right now,” said Melli, “It was not an easy task, but we did a pretty good job. We got this win. It was vital for us to keep alive the chances to go to the Play-In.”
“We got three tough games ahead of us. We just need to keep building off of this. Hopefully, we can get it done,” furthered Shields on a late push to make the Play-Ins.
From a four-game winning streak in Europe’s premier club continental competition, including taking down FC Barcelona on Wednesday, the team guided by Sarunas Jasikevicius was forced down to 19-12, despite a brilliant defensive effort to come back in the game. An 11th loss in 16 games on the road in the 2023-24 season.
Scottie Wilbekin tallied 12 of his team-high 15 points after the break in Italy. Johnathan Motley had 13 points and extended his double-digit performance index rating streak to 11 games. Tarik Biberovic scored five of his 13 points in the fourth period. Marko Guduric went for eight points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
“I think on the road it is too difficult when you go down by this amount of points and not playing good basketball,” explained Jasikevicius, “The reaction was fantastic. And at the end, some little things decided the game.”
Pierre and Lo sidelined
Yigit Hamza Mestoglu (right knee), Raul Neto (right knee), and Arturs Zagars (left knee) were out for the visitors. Dyshawn Pierre was scratched after returning from a hamstring injury at the top of the double-game week. Metecan Birsen, Sehmus Hazer, and Melih Mahmutoglu were also left off the lineup. Despite suiting up, Yam Madar did not play.
Besides Billy Baron (right elbow) and Giampaolo Ricci (right thigh), Messina’s injury list also stretched to Maodo Lo (left thigh) after a setback against Monaco on Wednesday. Newcomer Denzel Valentine is ineligible to play in the EuroLeague.
Coppa Italia rematch for Olimpia Milan
Next Thursday, Le Scarpette Rosse takes on Zalgiris in Kaunas in Round 32 of the EuroLeague Regular Season. In Round 24 of Italy’s LBA UnipolSai Regular Season, facing Frecciarossa Final Eight champion Generazione Vincente Napoli provides the opportunity to avenge the Coppa Italia Final loss on Sunday.
Tied with Anadolu Efes at 20-3 and on top of the Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi standings, Fener visits Aliaga Petkimspor on Monday. Back to Ulker Sports Arena, welcoming ALBA Berlin in Istanbul next Friday resumes the continental campaign.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net