He did… Blackjack in Kaunas for the advantage of Olympiacos!

He left… standing up from Kaunas o Olympic!

Although they gave… rights in the fourth period, losing by 14 pointswith a large basket of “space”Vezenkov at 6.7” and his excellent defense Lorentzakisthe “red and white” won 74-72 the Zalgiris and they went up to 21-8remaining the favorite for the first place in the regular season of the Euroleague!

At the same time, the Piraeus team is out from the mathematical qualification to the playoffshe also left with another important award from Lithuania, as well reached its 10th away winmarking for the first time in its history a double-digit number away from SEF!

Another terrific performance from Vezenkov, who in addition to the winning basket, had 25 points and 8 rebounds, just as good as McKissick with 18p., with Fal to add 6 points, 4 rebounds, but to be a top creator with 7 assists along with Walkup!

On the other hand, Zalgiris retreated to 15-14with Schmitz and Dimsa to be first scorers with 18 points. and 17p. respectively.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. With repeated good defenses, the “red and white” entered, going to +5 (2-7), in the first two minutes. Mistakes and misguided choices by the Piraeus team followed, with Zalgiris taking advantage of it and making separate scores of 11-3 with Ulanovas and Lekavicius, for +3 (13-10), in the 7th minute. Barzoka’s team’s response came with a personal 5-0 run by Vezenkov to take the lead (13-15), but the hosts answered with Dimsa and closed the first period in front (17-15).

Consecutive missed defensive rebounds brought Olympiacos to -5 (22-17) at the beginning of the second quarter. With Luntzis and McKissick, the “red and whites” reduced to a point (22-21), but the three-pointers sent Zalgiris to +6 (29-23), at 14′. Then, the Piraeus team took out the defenses and with McKissick and Larentzakis went on a 7-0 run for the lead (29-30), at 16′. The Lithuanians reacted, getting points again from the offensive rebounds and were in front (34-32), until 18′. However, the last two minutes were followed by a series of steals by the Barzoka players and with McKissick constantly hitting the open court, they went on an 8-0 run for +6 (34-40) at the end of the first half.

A bad start from Olympiakos in the second half, as errors and a terrible miss gave Ulanovas the opportunity to push Zalgiris on a 6-0 run and tie the game (40-40), in the first three minutes. The reaction of the “red and white” first came with a 5-0 run by Vezenkov (40-45), to take control. Then, the Piraeus tightened up the defense and with Fal as the main creator, the Bulgarian forward “hot” in the attack and Papanikolaou sent the difference to +14 (45-59), in the 28th minute. In the remaining time, Barzoka’s players lost their offensive rhythm, with the hosts making a mini 4-0, but Vezenkov making it 49-61, at the end of the third period.

Without concentration, Olympiacos entered the fourth quarter and with Schmitz finding a rhythm outside the 6.75m, Zalgiris initially reduced -6 (59-65). The reaction of the “red and whites” was a basket by Fal, to be followed by a series of three-pointers from the hosts, who brought the match to the basket (65-67), in the 35th minute. McKissick temporarily stopped the streak, with Dimsa initially answering for the equalizer (69-69) and then with a three-pointer, Schmitz put the Lithuanians ahead (72-70), in the 39th minute. This was followed by 2/3 shots by McKissick, a good defense by Larentzakis on Ulanovas, while with a difficult basket by Vezenkov, Olympiacos went ahead (72-74), 6 minutes before the end. In the last attack, Ulanovas missed and the Piraeus team won.

The quarters: 17-15, 34-40, 49-61, 72-74

See here the match statistics

Watch the film of the match here