The Roca Team fell short against Olimpia Milano, marking Monaco’s second consecutive EuroLeague defeat. The result, which came down to the last minute of the game, means that AS Monaco Basketball has dropped out of the league’s top four.
Despite all their attempts to fight back, AS Monaco Basketball lost 80-86 to the Milan team on their home court at the Unipol Forum on 27th February.
The Monaco side hadn’t played a EuroLeague fixture in nearly three weeks, having lost to Partizan in early February, and had to make do without the likes of Nick Calathes, Juhann Begarin, and Vitto Brown.
The starting five of Mike James, Jordan Loyd, Alpha Diallo, Jaron Blossomgame and Daniel Theis, making his first start for the team since joining in mid-February, enjoyed a strong early run, but the hosts slowly closed the gap to finish the first quarter 19-18.
See more: German international and NBA player Daniel Theis joins AS Monaco Basketball
The team traded blows during the second quarter, and by halftime, Milan was ahead by seven points.
After a series of changes in the first half, the starting five players were all back on court for the second.
Milan’s lead grew in the third quarter, despite James’ deep three attempts at a comeback. Monaco had other chances to make up the deficit but missed them, and found themselves down by seven points going into the final stage of the game.
There was a noticeable drought in points in the early part of the fourth quarter, with four scoreless minutes finally broken by Matthew Strazel with a three-pointer. One particularly bizarre moment came when Elie Okobo accidentally scored an own basket on a rebound, but he made up for the mistake with a three-pointer to bring the scoreboard to a 74-74 draw.
Monaco temporarily found themselves in the lead soon after, but the Italian side soon responded. With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Milan’s Leday made the most of a foul to hammer in two points, while James missed his final three-point attempt, sealing Monaco’s defeat after an intense few minutes of play.
“We found the resources to fight back,” said Monaco Head Coach Vassilis Spanoulis post-game. “At the end, we defended well, but we were chasing the score all game, and that makes it difficult to control a match. We need to find solutions.”
The team next faces Cholet in the Betclic Elite on 2nd March, before playing Paris Basketball in the EuroLeague on 5th March.
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Photo source: AS Monaco Basketball