By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kostas Papanikolaou and Matt Lojeski scored 16 points each as Olympiacos passed from Kaunas victorious 88 – 75 against Zalgiris taking a sort of a… payback for last season’s defeat in the EuroLeague Top 16.
The Reds improved their record to 8 – 4 with this win while the Lithuanian team suffered its eighth loss of the season in the competition.
Everything was, more or less decided in the last period where on one hand a nearly bestial defensive output by Olympiacos and on the other Zalgiris Kaunas making a fair amount of misreading in its offensive plays, forced the hosts to score only 6 points in the first seven minutes, while their opponents dropped 13, establishing a lead around double-digits.
With the score 66 – 76 and three minutes to go, Zalgiris had a small 4 – 0 run but it was all for naught, since their “hack-a-Birch” tactics didn’t bear any fruits, with the Canadian center having a 5/6 from the free throw line, expanding his team’s lead to 72 – 83 with 82 seconds to go and, more or less, sealing the fate of the match.
Coach Jasikevicius’ squad had made sure that the match would be a thriller after a strong first half which ended 40 – 42. Paulius Jankunas (18 points, 7 rebounds), Brock Motum (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Lukas Lekavicius (11 points, 8 assists) were the focal points in Zalgiris’ attacks that were only silenced successfully by Olympiacos in the fourth quarter.
Apart from dropping 16 points apiece, Papanikolaou and Lojeski also controlled the boards with 5 and 6 rebounds respectively. Giorgos Printezis also provided big with 15 points and 6 rebounds yet his injury in the final quarter brought a sour taste to the sweet victory of his team.