Short-handed AX Armani Exchange Milan found valuable help from Tommaso Baldasso, who scored 11 points in the last 11 minutes to boost his team to a thrilling road win against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
Baldasso was Milan's unsung hero in Villeurbanne
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Since he had played just 2:14 in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague ever before Thursday night, few could have guessed what an important role Baldasso was going to have in Milan's final regular season. But the backcourt absences on head coach Ettore Messina's roster opened the door for Baldasso – and the 24-year-old guard seized the opportunity.
He scored the first basket of his EuroLeague career early in the second quarter to bring Milan within 23-22. Baldasso didn't appear again till the end of the third quarter, but when he did it, he did it in style.
First, he provided a highlight with a half-court buzzer-beating three-pointer that granted Milan a 56-63 advantage entering the last stanza. Then, he kept rocking till the end of the game.
A long jumper and a normal three-pointer from Baldasso allowed Milan to get ahead by 58-70 with 7 minutes remaining, which seemed the beginning of the end for ASVEL. The hosts' rally turned the game upside down, though, and David Lighty capped a 7-0 run to put ASVEL ahead 76-75 in crunch time.
Again, Baldasso came to Milan's rescue by solving a messy offense with a shot-clock buzzer-beater from well beyond the arc to put his team back in front, 76-78, entering the last minute. Malcolm Delaney soon added his own basket to open a four-point that proved enough to withstand ASVEL's final push.