2019-20Regular SeasonRound 15
AX Armani Exchange Milan 78
Valencia Basket 71
December 19, 2019 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Milan edges Valencia to snap losing streak

AX Armani Exchange Milan ended its five-game losing streak by downing Valencia Basket 78-71 at home on Thursday. Milan improved to 8-7 in the standings while Valencia dropped to 6-9. Amedeo Della Valle led the winners with 15 points, Vladimir Micov and Kaleb Tarczewski each added 13 and Sergio Rodriguez had 10 for Milan. Tarczewski added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Bojan Dubljevic led Valencia with 20 points - all in the first half. Mike Tobey added 11 for the visitors. Valencia led 39-43 late in the first half before Rodriguez and Della Valle fueled a 14-0 run that made it a double-digit game, 53-43, soon after the break. Milan led 62-51 late in the third quarter, however, Sam Van Rossom and Louis Labeyrie brought Valencia within 66-63 with 6 minutes left. Luis Scola and Micov stepped up to make the difference down the stretch.

Dubljevic got Valencia going with back-to-back three-pointers and a put-back layup for a 2-8 lead. Micov stepped up with a couple of driving layups in a 7-0 run highlighted by Michael Roll's corner triple. Dubljevic struck again from downtown, but Tarczewski scored twice in the paint for a 14-11 Milan lead. Van Rossom fed Tobey for an alley-oop dunk and added a three-pointer Maurice Ndour scored in transition to give Valencia a 16-18 edge. Shelvin Mack scored down low, but Aaron Doornekamp and Tobey each hit off-balance jumpers to keep their team ahead. Della Valle rescued Milan with 8 quick points, including a buzzer-beating layup that put the hosts in charge, 26-24, after 10 minutes. Della Valle kept pushing Milan early in the second quarter and got help from Arturas Gudaitis and Riccardo Moraschini to make it 32-26. Vanja Marinkovic tried to change things with a backdoor layup and Colom scored in penetration, but Della Valle struck from beyond the arc for a 35-30 Milan lead. Ndour and Dubljevic scored around the basket, but Roll and Rodriguez kept the hosts ahead, 39-34. Colom and Dubljevic combined for all the points in a 0-9 run that established a 39-43 Valencia lead. Rodriguez rescued Milan with a backdoor layup and a buzzer-beating basket by Della Valle tied the game, 43-43, at halftime.

Scola hit a jumper right after the break and Rodriguez scored twice in penetration before Valencia called timeout at 51-43. Tarczewski capped a 14-0 run from the foul line as Van Rossom stepped up with a driving layup and found Tobey for an alley-oop basket. Milan found scoring options for Tarczewski and Gudaitis down low, who joined forces to boost the hosts' lead to 62-51. Van Rossom got Valencia a bit closer, 62-53, after 30 minutes. Gudaitis and Micov each scored around the basket for a 66-54 Milan lead early in the fourth quarter. Ndour and Labeyrie tried to change things for Valencia and Van Rossom added a jumper that gave the visitors hope at 66-60. Labeyrie struck from beyond the arc to cap a 0-9 run, as Scola gave Milan fresh air with a three-pointer. Tarczewski dunked and Rodriguez added an electric driving layup, but Labeyrie and Colom kept Valencia within 73-67 in the next-to-last minute. Micov hit a corner triple that sealed the outcome.

Pivotal performer

Amedeo Della Valle gave Milan a spark in the first half when the hosts were struggling the most and beat the buzzer at the end of the first and second quarters. He finished the game with 15 points on 4-of-5 two-point shooting, 1-of-2 three-pointers and 4-of-4 free throws plus 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls drawn for a PIR of 18.

Game-changing moment

Valencia managed to get within 66-63 with 6 minutes left, but Milan found a go-to guy in Scola, who struck from downtown and fed Tarczewski for a dunk that boosted the hosts' margin to 71-63. Valencia did not give up, but Milan kept full control of the game until the final buzzer.

Stellar stat

Milan was effective inside (26-of-46 2FG, 56.5%) and limited Valencia to just 6-of-28 shooting from downtown. Dubljevic hit 4 without a miss, but the rest of the team combined to shoot 8.3%. Milan also took excellent care of the ball and had just 7 turnovers.

Did you notice?

It was the first home win for either team against the other. Milan and Valencia had played four times before this game and the road team had always won.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action next week. Milan visits CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital on Thursday, December 26. A day later, Valencia faces Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at Ulker Sports Arena.

Amedeo Della Valle - AX Armani Exchange Milan - EB19
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; LATISEVS, OLEGS; KOLJENSIC, MILOS
Attendance: 7531
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan26171916
Valencia Basket24191018
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan26436278
Valencia Basket24435371
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO 19:02 15 4/5 1/2 4/4 3   3 1 1 1     1 2 18
1 MACK, SHELVIN 15:35 2 1/2 0/1   1 1 2 2 2 1     2 1 4
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 23:37 13 4/8 1/4 2/2   3 3 2   2     2 3 10
6 BILIGHA, PAUL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 14:34 9 3/6   3/4 1 4 5 2         4 3 11
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 14:01 4 2/2 0/3     2 2     1     1   1
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 21:47 5 1/2 1/2     1 1 1   1     1 2 5
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 27:33 10 5/7 0/5   1 4 5 8 1       2 2 17
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 25:26 13 5/7   3/5 3 7 10       1   2 4 22
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 WHITE, AARON 13:38   0/2       1 1 1       1 4 1 -4
40 SCOLA, LUIS 24:47 7 1/5 1/1 2/2   4 4 1 1 1     3 2 7
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 78 26/46 4/18 14/17 9 28 37 18 5 7 1 1 22 20 92
        56.5% 22.2% 82.4%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COLOM, QUINO 20:47 9 4/7 0/3 1/2   1 1 6   2       1 8
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 20:12 3 1/1 0/4 1/2 1 1 2           2 1 -1
3 LOYD, JORDAN 19:43 4 1/4 0/5 2/2   3 3   1 2     3 4 -1
5 NDOUR, MAURICE 21:05 6 2/3 0/1 2/2   5 5   3 1     2 4 13
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 17:06   0/3 0/2     1 1 1   1     2   -6
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 22:04 7 1/2 1/4 2/2 2 3 5 2 1 1 1   2 1 10
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 21:46 9 2/2 1/2 2/2 1 2 3 5         2 3 17
10 TOBEY, MIKE 19:48 11 4/7 0/1 3/4 2 4 6   1       4 3 12
12 MOTUM, BROCK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 17:03 20 2/6 4/4 4/4 4 2 6     3   1 1 4 21
40 JIMENEZ, MILLAN 0:20                              
42 DOORNEKAMP, AARON 20:06 2 1/1 0/2 0/1   2 2 1         2 1 1
Team           5 1 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 71 18/36 6/28 17/21 15 25 40 15 6 11 1 1 20 22 79
        50% 21.4% 81%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan

"First of all, it was a very difficult game. When you have a losing streak, you see all kinds of ghosts in your mind, but this a long, long season, as everybody knows, but sometimes we tend to forget it. We are where we wanted to be. We are 8-7 with this game and I think that our defense in the second half was pretty good. I think they only scored 28 points in the second, which is what we have to do, especially at home."

"I think in the second half, we played good defense and had a better ball movement. We ended up with 18 assists and it is an important win. It was not easy to win after five straight losses. Everybody was nervous and afraid to lose again, so I really want to congratulate my players because in the second half, they played how you have to play, I think, a do-or-die game, building the game from defense and not getting mad if you miss a shot or whatever. Thank you to the fans who helped us a lot, and now we move on."

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"I think we tried to play a serious game. We knew we have to play dynamic against Milan's defense and I think that for a big part of the game, we played with this philosophy. But I think the key was the special moments in which Milan punished us too much, especially in the final actions of the quarters and in moments in which our offense was not efficient, particularly in the start of the third quarter. We always tried but couldn't win. In the first two quarters, we had an important player for us, Dubljevic, who played well and punished their defense with pop-out situations, but at the start of the third quarter, we lost our energy and Milan played smart, attacking our lack of energy on defense."

Players

TARCZEWSKI, KALEB
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"Obviously, it hasn't been easy lately. We just really wanted to come out and play together as a team, bring some energy, have a good game in front of our home crowd, and I think we did that tonight. It feels great. I am happy to get the win."
DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"It feels great because we are coming out of a losing streak. We felt a little bit of pressure because this was a mandatory win for us and we are very, very happy to have this result. I am just happy. I was a little bit in trouble because I got hurt and didn't find the rhythm and tonight, I was able to find my rhythm again, so I am happy and enjoying this win with the guys. Right now we are in the playoffs. That is our goal and that is where we wanted to be at the end of the year. We have to stick with the plan and try to win as many as games as we can to stay in the playoffs."
TOBEY, MIKE
Valencia Basket
"I think we did a good job in the first half attacking them, but some small details allowed them to get easy points. In the start of the second half, I think we didn't come out the way that we wanted and this is kind of what hurt us. We tried to fight back, but it is hard when you get down like that so quickly. We have to learn from this and move on. We are playing better, but like I said, we have to learn from this to avoid the same mistakes hurting us in the future."
No results found.