2013-14Top 16Round 7
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 70
Unicaja Malaga 59
February 20, 2014 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 PALADESIO

Langford leads EA7 Milan over Unicaja

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan moved into a tie for second place in Group E at the midway point of the Top 16 after blowing past Unicaja Malaga 70-59 on Thursday in the fashion capital. Keith Langford matched his season high with 29 points to lead the hosts, who improved to 4-3, which knocking Unicaja to 3-4. The Milan guard scored 12 in the first quarter as Milan took control and had 7 in a 9-0 third-quarter run as the lead grew to 20 points. Nik Caner-Medley helped Unicaja rally in the fourth quarter, but the visitors never got closer than 8. Nicolo Melli’s three-pointer with 95 seconds remaining triggered the celebrations for the hosts. Curtis Jerrells added 13 points and Samardo Samuels tallied 10 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. Caner-Medley led the Unicaja attack with 18 points and Vladimir Stimac amassed 13 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

First quarter: Langford heats up early for hosts

Jayson Granger’s pull-up jumper provided the game’s first points a minute into the action. Daniel Hackett went inside for the hosts’ first score. Samuels made his impact with 4 points for Milan before Hackett free throws made it 8-4. Caner-Medley attacked the rim and was rewarded with a pair of free throws, but a Langford triple at the other end increased the Milan advantage. Caner-Medley and Davis Moss traded baskets before Stimac finished a fast break with a basket-plus-foul to make it 15-12. Stimac narrowed the difference to 1, however Langford darted to the hoop for a three-point play. Stimac and Langford each scored again to leave the scoreboard at 22-17 through 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Jerrells carries Milan to double-digit cushion

After two scoreless minutes, Curtis Jerrells brought the Milan fans to their feet with a sweet assist to Gani Lawal for a viscous slam. Two more minutes of tough defense followed before Rafael Hettsheimeir sank a three… But Jerrells countered with a pair from downtown to make it 30-20 midway through the quarter. Sergi Vidal’s basket was credited for Unicaja after a goaltending call on Lawal. Fran Vazquez rejected Samuels from behind, but the visitors failed to capitalize. Jerrells took advantage of a lapse in the Unicaja defense to dunk and restore a double-digit lead. Caner-Medley scored over C.J. Wallace before Zoran Dragic knocked down a jumper to close the gap to 32-26. After a timeout, Hackett sliced through the Malaga defense for a layup and Langford dunked on the break to restore a 10-point difference. Hackett fed Samuels inside for a slam that made it 38-27 at the break.

Third quarter: Langford highlights 9-0 run as lead touches 20

Dragic drove for a layup to open the second half and Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored a second-chance basket to make it 39-31. Milan countered through Samuels inside and Hackett from the line. Moss was forced to the bench with his fourth foul, but Langford let the fans forget about that with a lightning-quick drive. Caner-Medley scored at the other end, but a hustle play by Bruno Cerella opened the door for Langford to bury a three for a 47-35 lead midway through the quarter. A red-hot Langford added free throws and Cerella came through with a steal and a foul shot as the lead soared. Hackett connected with Langford to boost the advantage to 18. Ryan Toolson ended the Unicaja drought with a baseline jumper, however Melli hit back from downtown to make it 56-37. Langford’s total reached 24 points and the lead hit 20 on a free throw resulting from a technical foul on Malaga coach Joan Plaza. Vazquez split free throws as the visitors came within 57-40.

Fourth quarter: Caner-Medley and Unicaja’s rally falls short

Caner-Medley sandwiched a pair of threes around a Jerrells triple as Unicaja showed signs of life. After Lawal missed a dunk, Stimac scored a tip-in to narrow the difference to 60-48. Moss fouled out with more than six minutes to play. Carlos Suarez scored Unicaja’s next 6 points – 4 of them from the line – to make it an 8-point game. Melli rejected Caner-Medley and Langford sank a foul-line jumper to revive the Milan supporters. Stimac answered inside, but a two-chance Milan offense wasted time and finished with Langford at the line for another point. A Melli triple with 95 seconds remaining made it 68-56 and all but settled the outcome. A Toolson triple in the closing seconds and Langford jumper at the buzzer ended the game at 70-59.

Samardo Samuels - EA7 Emporio Armani - EB13
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; CMIKIEWICZ, MAREK; LATISEVS, OLEGS
Attendance: 6670 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan22161913
Unicaja Malaga17101319
End of Quarter1234
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan22385770
Unicaja Malaga17274059
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
7 CERELLA, BRUNO 10:39 1 0/1   1/2 2   2 2 1 1     4 1  
9 MELLI, NICOLO 18:13 6 0/3 2/3   1 3 4   1   1   2   6
12 HACKETT, DANIEL 35:06 7 2/4 0/4 3/4 1 4 5 2 1 3     1 5 9
14 KANGUR, KRISTJAN 15:45     0/4     4 4           1   -1
23 LANGFORD, KEITH 30:36 29 8/10 2/4 7/9 1 2 3 1   2     2 6 29
24 SAMUELS, SAMARDO 23:13 10 3/5   4/6 3 4 7     1     3 4 13
25 TOURE, MOHAMED DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 WALLACE, C.J. 6:02     0/1                   1 1 -1
31 LAWAL, GANI 16:39 2 1/5     1 4 5       1 1 3    
34 MOSS, DAVID 23:03 2 1/1 0/2   1   1 3   1     5   -2
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 20:44 13 2/5 3/6     1 1 1           2 11
Team           2 2 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 70 17/34 7/24 15/21 12 24 36 9 3 10 2 1 22 19 66
        50% 29.2% 71.4%
Head coach: BANCHI, LUCA
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
Unicaja Malaga
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
8 SABONIS, DOMANTAS 5:03   0/2       2 2         1     -1
9 VIDAL, SERGI 4:44 2 1/2 0/1     1 1               1
11 CALLOWAY, EARL 15:55   0/1 0/1     3 3     3     2 1 -3
12 SUAREZ, CARLOS 28:44 6 1/2 0/2 4/4   6 6 2 2 1     1 3 14
15 GRANGER, JAYSON 24:06 3 1/7   1/2   2 2     1     3 3 -3
17 VAZQUEZ, FRAN 11:30 1 0/1   1/2 1   1     1 1   4 2 -2
19 TOOLSON, RYAN 18:04 5 1/4 1/1                   5 1 -2
21 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 11:16 2 1/1 0/1 0/2 2   2     1     1 2 1
22 DRAGIC, ZORAN 17:15 6 3/5 0/2             1     2 3 2
30 HETTSHEIMEIR, RAFAEL 3:04 3   1/1             1         2
33 CANER-MEDLEY, NIK 33:50 18 4/8 2/4 4/4 1 3 4         1   2 17
51 STIMAC, VLADIMIR 26:29 13 5/8   3/5 4 7 11 2 1 2     1 5 24
Team           2 1 3     1     1   1
Totals 200:00 59 17/41 4/13 13/19 10 25 35 4 3 12 1 2 20 22 51
        41.5% 30.8% 68.4%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN

Head Coaches

BANCHI, LUCA
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
"We lost Alessandro Gentile a few hours before the game and then we had foul problems with David Moss, but we played with an incredible intensity and I think our defense made the difference. Then from defense came our transition game. We had some difficulties against their zone defense. One more time a pair of big defensive efforts in crucial situations gave us the chance to look ahead dreaming."
PLAZA, JOAN
Unicaja Malaga
"First of all congratulations to Milan, they played very tough defense that put us in trouble for all 40 minutes and forced us into many turnovers. They also scored too much in transition and just by switching to zone we were able to slow down their pace. My players did not give up and in the last quarter we came back, but we missed a pair of important possessions. And the incredible last shot of Langford made it again a double-digit difference."

Players

MELLI, NICOLO
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
"That was a great win for us and I really enjoyed the energy of our crowd. It’s great that our fans are giving us so much support and I truly believe that this team is giving 100% every day at practice and in every game. We showed a lot of passion against a very solid team that can beat you with scorers like Caner-Medley and Dragic, creative point guards and the impact of big men like Fran Vasquez and Vladimir Stimac in the paint. It was a very important win for us."
LANGFORD, KEITH
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
"We said if we can play a defense like that we can win the game, and it was a great job by all the team. It was a very important game for us. I know that I can have a tough defense on me, but my teammates came to me many times and I tried to do my best and I found a great shooting night. But the most important thing was to win the game and not to score points. I think our team is always focused on its goal and we have to just keep on working together."
CANER-MEDLEY, NIK
Unicaja Malaga
"They are a very good team, they got a lot of talent. We had a difficult time guarding their one-on-one plays with their guards breaking down our defense over and over again and I think that was the difference in the game. We knew that they are very aggressive in defense too. I think we played well overall, we easily could have lost this game by 20 points, but we fought. Obviously we’re disappointed with the loss, but I give Milan credit for their win. It’s still a tough group; we need to win a couple of games on the road. It wasn’t our night to steal one, but we’re still in the mix."