By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov scored 14 points, Tyler Dorsey added 11, Evan Fournier had just three points on one made free throw out of 11 attempts, but somehow Olympiacos got the 62-58 win over Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv.
As the final score indicates, both teams had an off night with Olympiacos finishing the game with 22,6% efficiency in threes and Hapoel having a similar 24.1%.
Nikola Milutinov, with 10 points and 12 rebounds, plus the go-ahead basket in the end, was the most important player of the game.
Antonio Blakeney was the leading scorer of Hapoel with 13 points, and the duo of Vasilije Micic and Collin Malcolm had 10 each as Hapoel dropped to 6-2 on a three-way tie at the top with Zalgiris Kaunas and Crvena Zvezda, while Olympiacos follows at 5-3, tied with Monaco, Panathinakos, Barcelona, and Valencia.
Hapoel led by three (21-18) at the end of the first period and jumped to a 10-point cushion (32-22) with an 11-3 run. Olympiacos reacted, and at the end of the first half, they were down by six (39-33), shooting 22,7% in threes.
Olympiacos started the third period with five straight points to make it a one-point game (39-38) and got the 44-43 lead in a quarter with a partial score of 11-4 for the hosts as Hapoel’s shooting percentage in threes dropped to 19%.
The Greeks extended their lead to 48-43 with a thunderous dunk by Dante Hall. Hapoel tied the score at 52, but Alec Peters, with a three, put Olympiacos back up (55-52).
Vezenkov followed with a goal foul (58-52), but Micic answered back with two threes to tie it all entering the last minute.
Milutinov scored (60-58), and with 39 seconds left, Micic made two turnovers, including an offensive foul on Thomas Walkup, and the game was over with Vezenkov getting fouled and scoring two free throws.