Jerrells stars as Milan bests Valencia in double overtime
Curtis Jerrells enjoyed a dream second debut for AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan as the Italian team topped Valencia Basket 98-103 in a thrilling back-and-forth double overtime battle. After a tight first half containing 18 lead changes, Valencia looked dominant when a blistering start to the third quarter delivered a 61-45 lead. But Milan roared back to force overtime through Jordan Theodore’s layup with 13 seconds remaining. The teams could not be separated until the second additional period, when Jerrells took over by scoring 12 points to give Milan its first road win of the season. Jerrells, who last week re-joined the club after three years away, finished with a career-high 30 points including 6 triples, while Jordan Theodore added 20 points and Andrew Goudelock, who departed through injury, scored 17. The win lifted Milan’s record to 2-5. Valencia was paced by 22 points from Erick Green, with Bojan Dubljevic adding 18, Fernando San Emeterio 16 and Tibor Pleiss and Sam Van Rossom both scoring 13. The loss was the third in a row for Valencia, which is now 3-4. Milan set a new club record with 17 triples, and Valencia tied theirs with 13.
In an early sign of things to come, Van Rossom struck a pair of early triples for Valencia, but Amath M’Baye did the same for Milan, before Green and Theodore also converted from long range as the lead continued to swap hands. The same pattern of lead changes continued early in the second quarter before Valencia enjoyed the first real run made by either team, with a three-pointer from Pleiss, who also made a couple of smooth mid-range strikes, highlighting a 7-0 burst to establish a 30-24 lead. Another triple from Rafa Martinez maintained that gap, but Goudelock scored 7 in hurry to get his team level again. A big put-back slam from
Cory Jefferson and a triple from Goudelock sent Milan ahead, but San Emeterio’s three-point play gave Valencia a lead at the break.
A quick fire pair of Green two-pointers and a long–range strike from Guillem Vives extended the lead early in the third quarter, and when the red-hot Green struck twice again, the hosts were suddenly ahead by double figures. A triple from Aaron Doornekamp and a three-point play from Green completed a 13-0 run as Milan was held scoreless for more than four minutes. But Goudelock’s triple got the visitors back on the board and that led to a 0-9 run as Jerrells, Arturas Gudaitis and Goudelock struck from close range, bringing Milan back to 64-58 at the end of the third. Jerrells reduced the gap with a three-pointer to begin the final quarter, but Milan suffered a major blow when Goudelock limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Nevertheless, Jefferson made it 69-67 with a deep three, and after Van Rossom’s triple, Theodore responded with a battling layup and one. Both offenses slowed down with Milan missing chances to tie it before Theodore did exactly that with a coast-to-coast layup with 13 seconds remaining. That gave Valencia one more possession, but Green’s three-point try on the buzzer fell short.
Jerrells opened the extra period with another triple, but Van Rossom immediately did the same with his team’s first field goal for more than five minutes. Another triple, this time from Vladimir Micov, sent Milan back ahead, but Green responded from downtown to restore parity. Then Jerrells and Doornekamp traded triples, before Kaleb Tarczewski’s alley-oop put Milan ahead. But San Emeterio responded from the foul line and the game remained tied after five minutes. Just like the first extra period, the second began with a bucket from Jerrells and he followed up with a three-pointer to make it
85-90, before Theodore’s triple extended the lead. A driving layup and another three from Jerrells made it a 10-point lead, and there was no way back for Valencia.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Euroleague.net