Armani Milan’s storming first quarter knocks down Zvezda / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Giuseppe Cottini/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Giuseppe Cottini/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

AX Armani Exchange Milan (6-1) beat Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (2-5) 79-62 (24-6, 19-21, 19-23, 17-12) to redeem themselves after a blow against FC Bayern Munich in the first double week game.

Player of the Game EFF 16 Shavon Shields Points 18 Accuracy 6-12 Rebounds 2 Assists 0

Milan came out strong from the first seconds. They arranged a 13-0 run thanks to 3 three-pointers by Shavon Shields and Devon Hall and 2 twos by Luigi Datome, Nicolo Melli. The perfect Italian club's start continued.

Armani Exchange increased their lead to 20 points (24-4) before the end of the first period. Troy Daniels hit 2 threes to help his team dominate over Serbians.

Milan let their opponents score only 6 points in the first 10 minutes of playing time.

Crvena Zvezda managed to reduce their deficit to a single digit in the third period (50-41). However, Milan pushed the accelerator pedal again and created a 15-point lead (62-47).

That was not an end, as Etorre Messina's squad enlarged the margin between the teams to 19 points in the decisive 10 minutes (72-53) to finish the match calmly.

Shavon Shields was a top performer for Armani Exchange, posting 18 points (3/6 2PT, 3/6 3 PT, 3/3 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 5 drawn fouls, and 16 PIR.

"They are a tough team, we knew they were going to keep playing. Luckily, we tightened it up at the end of the game. We extended the lead and won the game. Malcolm [Delaney] going down hurts us a lot, he is important to our team and our defense, but everyone is coming and stepping up," said Shields post-game.

"I think it is a very very important win... I think we kept our composure and every time they made a run, we made a run. We ended up winning with a good margin against a very interesting and competing team. I am very happy for this win, and for the help, we received from Troy Daniels and Kaleb Tarczewski," spoke Ettore Messina.

2-pointers this season

54%18,4Points made:18,4Accuracy:53,8%Place in standings:11Record max:25Record min:13Most made 2FGs:Shavon ShieldsTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

It was a special contest for Kyle Hines who reached another milestone, becoming just the fifth player to grab at least 1500 rebounds for his career.

Only Paulius Jankunas (1975 TRB), Felipe Reyes (1801 TRB), Ioannis Bourousis (1604 TRB), and Ante Tomic (1545 TRB) grabbed more boards than Hines.

Luka Mitrovic had the best game for Zvezda, accumulating 17 points (7/9 2PT, 3/5 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 block, 7 drawn fouls, and 27 PIR.

"Congratulations to Milan for the win. We played really, really bad at the beginning of the game. They played excellently and created a big advantage. The second quarter was better, we tried also to stay in the game in the second half but the advantage was big and they deserved to win," told Dejan Radonjic after the loss.

Armani Exchange: Shavon Shields 18, Troy Daniels 12 (3/4 3PT), Kaleb Tarczewski 10 (3 REB), Konstantinos Mitoglou 9 (3 REB), Devon Hall 8 (6 AST).

Crvena Zvezda: Luka Mitrovic 17 (7 REB, 3 AST), Ognjen Dobric 13 (3 REB), Nikola Kalinic 8, Stefan Lazarevic 7.

Highlights

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