Mythikos Vezenkov “saved” Olympiakos’ unbeaten streak in Rhodes!

Hero Sasha Vezenkov in the… thriller of Rhodes!

With a big three-pointer by the Bulgarian forward, at 5.6” before the end, the overworked Olympic from Milan he won 80-79 the most combative Colossus and remained unbeaten (16-0) in the Basketball League.

Highly competitive throughout the match, the “Sea” had a chance to win, but his shot Katsiveli on exhalation did not find a target. Thus, they experienced this year’s first home defeat, relegating to 8-8.

Another unreal appearance from him Vezenkov, as he finished the game with 33 points (with 11/15 total shots!), 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while 14p. had o Papanikolaou.

From Kolossos, the first scorer was Yiannopoulos with 17 p., with Dixon to add 14p.

The match

Kolossos started with Hatzidakis, Chrysikopoulos, Giannopoulos, Dixon and Katsiveli, while Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. The very sluggish first three minutes of the “red and white” were taken advantage of by the Rhodians, who led 5-0, while thanks to the offensive rebounds and the three-pointers of Giannopoulos, they reached +7 (15-8), until the 6th minute. From that point on, the Piraeus team tightened defensively and with forwards Vezenkov and Papanikolaou with baskets in the open court, they equalized (20-20), while with a three-pointer by the Bulgarian forward they closed the first period in front (22-23).

Kolossos took advantage of Olympiakos’ laxity at the beginning of the second period for the reversal and +4 (28-24). Then, the “red and white” made a 5-0 run with Peters and Sluka for the lead (28-29), at 14′. The Rodites’ answer came from Moreira and Chrysikopoulos for a 9-0 run, which sent them back to +7 (36-29) at 15′. With Papanikolaou as the protagonist, Bartzoka’s team went on a 5-0 run and got closer to the basket (36-34), in the 17th minute. However, in the last minutes the guests made only mistakes and with a basket by Katsivelis the hosts went to the locker room with +4 (38-34).

Kolossos entered “hot” outside the 6.75m. and in the second half, increasing the difference to +9 (46-37), at 22′. After that, the pace of the match went uphill, as an informal … three-point contest followed by Dixon and Vezenkov, with the home team steadily holding their difference at +7 (54-47), until the 24th minute. The “red and white” responded with defenses and with individual scores of 1-7 they got closer to the point (55-54), in the 27th minute. However, Dixon and Young did not allow Barzoka’s team to take the lead and so the end of the third period found the Colossus at +3 (63-60).

With good defense and Black through the racket, Olympiacos entered the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run for the lead (63-65). However, the misguided persistence of the “red and white” from the perimeter and Yang and Moreira sent the Colossus to +5 (72-67), in the 34th minute. The Piraeus responded and equalized (72-72), with Moreira’s shot giving the home team the lead again (73-72), in the 36th minute. Then, Bartzoka’s players tightened up defensively and with Black and Larentzakis they went to +4 (73-77), but Yang and Yiannopoulos’ three-pointers gave the Rhodesians the lead again (79-77), at 1:30. before expiration. In the next few minutes, Olympiacos took out defenses and with a three-pointer by Vezenkov at 5.6”, they went ahead again, with Katsivelis missing in the exhalation.

The quarters: 22-23, 38-34, 63-60, 79-80

See the match statistics here

Watch the film of the match here