2017-18Regular SeasonRound 15
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 88
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 91
December 29, 2017 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Feldeine lifts Zvezda in Milan

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade grabbed its third road win of the season by edging AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 88-91 at Mediolanum Forum on Friday. Zvezda improved to 6-9 in the standings at the regular season's halfway mark while Milan dropped to 3-12. James Feldeine led Zvezda with 19 points. Milko Bjelica added 18, Mathias Lessort 14 and Taylor Rochestie 10 for the winners. Vladimir Micov led Milan with 16 points. Amath M'Baye and Dairis Bertans added 14 apiece, Andrea Cinciarini 11 and Jordan Theodore 10 for the hosts. Lessort and Feldeine led a 3-14 opening run and Bjelica added a couple of three-pointers to give Zvezda a 15-29 lead after 10 minutes. Dejan Davidovac also struck from downtown to boost the guests' margin to 20-37. Cinciarini, Bertans and Mantas Kalnietis combined for 14 points in a 18-5 run that brought Milan within 38-41 late in the first half. A three-pointer by Rochestie gave Zvezda a 45-55 margin after halftime, but Theodore, Bertans and Arturas Gudaitis made it 60-61 after 30 minutes. Bjelica lifted the guests to a 70-77 lead with 4 minutes left. Gudaitis and Cinciarini fueled a comeback that Micov completed with a three-pointer at 83-83 in the final minute. But then Feldeine hit a floater, then Bjelica, Feldeine and Rochestie were perfect from the foul line to prevent Milan from getting a chance to take the game to overtime.

Lessort got Zvezda going with free throws and Feldeine bettered Kaleb Tarczewski's dunk with a wild three-pointer for a 2-5 lead. Lessort scored down low, Feldeine hit a floater, Pero Antic buried a corner triple and Rochestie drove for a layup, forcing Milan to call timeout at 3-14. Andrew Goudelock and Theodore stepped up with consecutive three-point plays but Rochestie insisted from downtown and Bjelica added 2 more shots from beyond the arc for an 11-25 score. Theodore kept pacing Milan with a couple of floaters but Dylan Ennis and an unstoppable Feldeine kept Zvezda fully in charge, 15-29, after 10 minutes. M'Baye followed a put-back basket with a three-point play early in the second quarter. Zvezda found a new go-to guy in Davidovac, who had a dunk and a triple in an 0-8 run that made it a 17-point game, 20-37. Milan found answers from the perimeter, as three-pointers by Cinciarini, Bertans and Kalnietis brought the hosts within 33-41. Cinciarini hit free throws and Bertans added a triple but Nemanja Dangubic and Davidovac allowed Zvezda to keep a 40-45 edge at halftime.

Lessort hit a jumper and Feldeine added a floater for a 40-49 Zvezda lead soon after the break. Theodore downed a triple and Bertans added free throws but Rochestie and Bjelica kept Zvezda way ahead, 49-57. Cinciarini quickly answered with a backdoor layup, Cory Jefferson made free throws and a three-pointer by Micov brought Milan as close as 56-59. Antic and M'Baye traded free throws and a jumper by Gudaitis made it a one-point game, 60-61, after 30 minutes. Lessort took over with a put-back layup early in the fourth quarter and three-pointers by Bjelica, Branko Lazic and Dangubic boosted the guests' lead to 64-72 midway through the fourth quarter. M'Baye and Bertans answered from downtown but Bjelica restored a 70-77 edge. Micov and Cinciarini stepped up with back-to-back layups and Gudaitis followed a dunk with free throws for an 80-81 Milan deficit. Feldeine hit foul shots and a triple by Micov tied the game, 83-83, with 51.7 seconds to go. Feldeine hit a floater and free throws by Bjelica sealed the outcome, 83-87, with 16 seconds left. Micov hit a corner triple and Feldeine hit foul shots for an 86-89 score with 8.3 seconds remaining. Kalnietis and Rochestie exchanged free throws, as Milan got the ball back with 5.7 seconds left. Kalnietis missed from way downtown at the buzzer.

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on January 5, 2018 - Zvezda hosts Zalgiris Kaunas while Milan visits Olympiacos Piraeus.

James Feldeine - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade - EB17
Friday, December 29, 2017
Euroleague.net
Referees: PERUGA, CARLOS; PASTUSIAK, PIOTR; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 8667
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan15252028
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade29161630
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan15406088
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade29456191
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 GOUDELOCK, ANDREW 13:15 3 1/1 0/5 1/1 1   1     2     2 1 -4
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 22:49 16 2/4 3/3 3/4       3   2       3 17
7 PASCOLO, DAVIDE 10:36 2 1/3 0/1 0/1   1 1     1     1 1 -2
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 17:27 5 0/2 1/3 2/2   1 1 3 2 2     1 3 7
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 17:39 4 2/4     3 4 7       3   3 2 11
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 22:48 11 3/5 1/1 2/2   3 3 5 3       2 2 20
24 M'BAYE, AMATH 23:18 14 3/6 1/4 5/5 3   3 1         5 6 13
25 THEODORE, JORDAN 17:12 10 3/8 1/3 1/1 1 1 2         1 1 2 5
34 JEFFERSON, CORY 5:50 1 0/1   1/2                 2 1 -2
45 BERTANS, DAIRIS 20:14 14 0/1 4/5 2/2 1   1 4         5 2 14
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 6:31     0/2     1 1 1   1         -1
77 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 22:21 8 3/4   2/4 2 6 8       1   3 3 14
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 88 18/39 11/27 19/24 13 18 31 17 5 8 4 1 25 26 95
        46.2% 40.7% 79.2%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
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
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 RADICEVIC, NIKOLA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 DANGUBIC, NEMANJA 21:52 7 2/4 1/3   1 3 4 1 2     1 3   6
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 13:26 7 2/2 1/1     2 2     2     1 1 7
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 20:30 5 1/4 1/2   2 2 4 1     1   3   4
12 ANTIC, PERO 22:55 5   1/6 2/2   4 4 5   1     3 1 6
14 FELDEINE, JAMES 31:22 19 5/11 1/4 6/6 1 3 4 3 1 1   1 4 5 17
16 JANKOVIC, STEFAN 8:44 2 1/1                     2    
22 ROCHESTIE, TAYLOR 27:24 12 2/2 2/4 2/2   2 2 4   3     3 2 12
26 LESSORT, MATHIAS 16:50 14 5/7   4/5 3 1 4   1 2   1 3 5 15
31 ENNIS, DYLAN 5:41 2     2/2           1       1 2
32 JOVANOVIC, NIKOLA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
51 BJELICA, MILKO 31:16 18 2/4 3/5 5/5   7 7 3   1   1 4 10 28
Team           2 1 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 91 20/35 10/25 21/22 9 25 34 17 4 12 1 4 26 25 99
        57.1% 40% 95.5%
Head coach: ALIMPIJEVIC, DUSAN

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"We are a little frustrated because this is another one-shot loss. It's been consistent with the entire first half of the season. Our first quarter was not acceptable. We missed open shots and we panicked. That was our fault. If you miss shots, it can happen, but you shouldn't allow 29 points in the first period alone. What we know is that the players missing practice time are the ones losing conditioning and it showed on the court. The ones who put up the work are now in better shape, like Bertans and Cinciarini. We'll find the right balance in order to improve and stay competitive through the end."
ALIMPIJEVIC, DUSAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

"I think it is great for the EuroLeague to have games like this one tonight, but in my opinion we deserved to win because we were leading the whole game. I am very glad because it is a great way for my guys to finish the year like this. It is a very tough season for us, for all of us, because we have a lot of new players and a new coach, but we had very good moments until now. Now it is the time of the season to start fighting for trophies – of course national trophies, not the EuroLeague."

"It was a great game for both teams. In my opinion, both teams showed great, positive series during the game, and we had more luck in the end. I think we deserved the win because we led the whole game and, of course, it is a great way to finish this year."

Players

CINCIARINI, ANDREA
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"We competed hard but we let them get up by a wide margin and it's never easy to come back under those circumstances. We came up short another time.”
BJELICA, MILKO
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"Of course, every road win in the EuroLeague is like gold. I think we deserved it: we played great in the first quarter and made a big difference. After that, we let them pressure us and lost our lead, but in the end, we showed our character and won."