Olympiacos beat Valencia and remained undefeated in Spain!

Undefeated in Spain Olympic!

After the mediocre first half, where they were even at -15, the “red and whites” put their foot on the gas in the second and won 92-85 the Valenciagoing to 18-7 and remaining alone at the top!

So, Giorgos Bartzokas’ team did it 4/4 this year in Spainwhile at the same time he also maintained the invincible tradition in “Fodeta”, where it now counts seven wins in as many matches!

Excellent once again Papanikolaou with 22 points, with Vezenkov to add 20p. and the Sluka to reach the double-double with 10p. and 9 assists.

On the contrary, the “bats” retreated to 13-12by Prepelic to be the leading scorer with 21 points.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. The game had a frantic pace early on, with Dublijevic starting “hot” from the perimeter and sending Valencia to 10-4 in the first two minutes. The “red and white” temporarily reduced the point with Kanan (10-9), but the mistakes that followed and the great accuracy of the hosts outside the 6.75 m. pushed them to individual scores of 15-1, for +15 (25-10), at 8′. In the remaining time, the Piraeus took out the defenses and with Papanikolaou and Vezenkov closed the first period with a 5-0 run (25-15).

With the same consistency in the defense, with Slukas creating the Papanikolaou-Black appetites in the attack, Olympiacos went on a 10-0 run in the second period and equalized (25-25) in the first four minutes. However, the mistakes returned for the Piraeus, as did Dublijevic on the floor, who pushed Valencia on a 10-0 run (35-25), until the 16th minute. Sluka’s shots “unblocked” Barzoka’s team temporarily, but the poor defense and efficiency of the Spaniards outside the 6.75m, sent them back to +15 (45-30), at 19′. In the last minute, Olympiacos found solutions from McKissick and Vezenkov, ending the first half 5-0 (45-35).

With Prepelic a problem for the Olympiacos defense, Valencia was +13 (50-37) at the start of the second half. Then, the “red and white” picked up the pace, as they tightened up on defense and with Walkup and Vezenkov “hot” on offense, they went on a 15-0 run and took the lead (50-52), at 26′. The reaction of the home team was a basket by Jones for the equalizer, with the same duo sending the Piraeus to +5 (52-57). From then on, the match took on a very fast pace. Harper was holding the “bats” aggressively, but on the other hand McKissick was on fire outside the 6.75m. and thus Bartzoka’s team closed the third period at +7 (58-65).

Olympiacos had the same… chance on both sides of the floor at the start of the fourth quarter, where with baskets in the open court it started with an 8-0 run and went to +15 (58-73), in the 32nd minute. Valencia’s reaction came from Prepelic, who returned from the bench and with a series of three-pointers “scissored” the difference (69-75), in the 35th minute. Vezenkov responded for the “red and whites” and sent the difference +11 (69-80), in the 37th minute. Webb and Prepelic tried to keep the Spaniards in the match (76-84), but Vezenkov and Papanikolaou again took the Piraeus team to +10 (78-88), in the 39th minute. In the remaining time, the home team tried to stay in the game, but Barzoka’s players were cool from the shooting line and so they reached the victory with the final 92-85.

The quarters: 25-15, 45-35, 58-65, 85-92

See the match statistics here

Watch the film of the match here