EA7 Emporio Armani Milan overcame extreme adversity to edge Olympiacos Piraeus 88-87 at the Unipol Forum on Friday, with six players sidelined and head coach Ettore Messina absent due to illness. Quinn Ellis emerged as the hero, scoring a career-high 16 points, including nine in the decisive fourth quarter.
Using a nine-man rotation, assistant coach Peppe Poeta saw Milan start fast, scoring 27 points in the first quarter and maintaining a 47-43 halftime lead. Armoni Brooks’ sharpshooting helped the hosts hit 12-of-17 from inside the arc and 7-of-14 from deep in the opening half.
Olympiacos fought back in the third, with Alec Peters and Tyler Dorsey leading a partial comeback to trim the deficit to 67-56 entering the fourth. A 2-9 run brought the visitors within three points at 75-72, but Ellis’ back-to-back pull-up threes pushed Milan ahead 81-74.
With 47 seconds left, a Leandro Bolmaro assist allowed Ellis to finish inside for an 86-82 lead. Stefano Tonut and Marko Guduric then converted key free throws to secure the 88-87 win. Milan also outrebounded the visitors 32-29, including 11 offensive boards, and outscored Olympiacos 14-2 in fastbreak points.
Ellis finished with 16 points, five assists, two rebounds, and a block. Brooks added 15 points, while Bolmaro contributed nine, and Tonut added six points and eight rebounds.
For Olympiacos, Peters led all scorers with 27 points, Dorsey posted 25, and Evan Fournier added 10.
Milan improves to 6-5 and will aim to extend their winning streak to five games against Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv next Thursday, gradually welcoming back sidelined players. Olympiacos drops to 7-4 and hosts Paris Basketball next Friday.
