Real Madrid beat EA7 Emporio Armani 72-65; Advance into the Top 16 of Turkish Airlines Euroleague
On December 01 at the Mediolanumforum, Real Madrid finally put together a complete game and the result was an impressive 72-65 win over EA7 Emporio Armani. In doing so, the Spanish giants have advanced to the Top 16 of the 2011 Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
“Congratulations to my team, they won a very crucial game that qualified us for the Top 16.” Madrid head coach Pablo Lasco said. “Milano’s defense gave us trouble, but we were able to work together to find good shots, especially in the last minute, and never gave them the chance to go ahead.”
It was third consecutive victory for the Madrid, who improved to 5-2 in Group C. Emporio Armani, meanwhile, dropped to 2-5 with third straight loss of the season.
Sergio Rodriguez was simply spectacular, scoring a game-high 19 points on 3 for 4 shooting from three-point range and 6 for 6 from free throw line. Rudy Fernandez had 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals while Nikola Mirotic recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. Ante Tomic came off the bench with 10 points on 5 for 8 from two-point range and five rebounds for Madrid, who committed 15 turnovers as compared to 12 by the hosts.
Danilo Gallinari led EA7 Emporio with 13 points and six rebounds while Stefano Mancinelli had 12 points in the loss. Ioannis Bourousis racked up 10 points on 5 for 7 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds for Armani.
Madrid shot 50 percent (19 for 38) from two-point range and 92.8 percent (13 for 14) from free throw line, limiting Emporio to 45.1 percent (14 for 31) and 68.4 percent ( 13 for 19) respectively.
Rudy Fernandez and Ante Tomic scored the first nine points of the game to put Madrid ahead by 9-0 early. Stefano Mancinelli scored a lay-up and hit a free throw to cut the deficit to six but Real Madrid stretched their lead to eight-points, 14-6.
EA7 Emporio punctuated the next seven points to make it a point contest, 14-13, however Madrid responded with six points in the last two minutes of the quarter as compared to just two by Armani, taking a 20-15 lead into the second.
Armani made a brilliant comeback early in the second quarter and tied the game at 22. However Carlos Suarez nailed a shot from downtown and Sergio Rodriguez followed him with five consecutive points to put Madrid ahead by 30-22 again. Armani Milan stayed close until the halftime and trimmed their deficit to six, 36-30.
Both teams scored 17 points each in the third period as Madrid maintained their six-point advantage at the end of three.
Real pushed their lead to 62-54 within the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Omar Cook responded with a three-pointer and Danilo Gallinari hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to three.
Serge Ibaka hit a free throw to break the spurt and make it 63-59 but Malik Hairston also nailed a free throw to slash the lead back to three, 63-60.
Madrid broke away after that and just when it mattered the most, they posted the next four points to take a 67-60 lead, never to be threatened again.
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