“Stepped” on Fener and Olympiacos became… the boss!

With the… right in the playoffs o Olympic!

After the nervous first half, the “red and whites” caught fire in the second with Kanan and Vezenkov as protagonists, winning 79-68 the Fenerbahcefor 1-0 in a row.

With 16/29 three-pointers the Piraeus finished the match, with Vezenkov being the top scorer with 19 points and 3/6, while Kanan had 18 points. with 6/7 outside 6.75m!

From his team Dimitris Itoudisstood out Motley with 15 points.

The second match of the series is again at SEF on Friday (28/4, 21:30).

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. The “red and whites” entered the first three minutes somewhat nervously, with Hayes keeping Fener ahead (4-7). Then, the Piraeus team tightened up defensively and, securing the rebounds, ran into the open field and with Kanan and Walkap they went on a 10-0 run for +7 (14-7), in the 5th minute. Repeated bad attacks by Bartzoka’s players followed, with Pierre and Kalathis pushing the visitors to individual scores of 2-10, for the lead (16-17), at 8′. Olympiacos “unstuck” with a three-pointer by Vezenkov, but Motley and Pierre responded with 4-0 and thus Itoudis’ team closed the first period in front (19-21).

Offensive rebounds by Fener and Hayes took her to +5 (21-26) at the start of the second quarter. With Black defenses and Larentzakis and McKissick, Olympiacos equalized (26-26) at 14′. The guests’ reaction came with Guduric leading the way and a 6-0 run (26-32), until the 16th minute, while the “red and white” response came with the return of Fahl, Vezenkov and Walkup to the floor, resulting in a run of 8 -0, for the lead (34-32), at 18′. Pierre’s three-pointer temporarily put the Turks in front, but with Papanikolaou as the protagonist, who had a three-pointer and a terrible defense, the Piraeus went to the locker room first (37-35).

Nervous first two minutes in the second half from Olympiakos, with Fener keeping the match tied (39-39). There, Kanan started the counterattack of the “red and white” with his three-pointers, sending them to +6 (49-43), in the 24th minute. Hayes fought back temporarily, but the American guard along with Vezenkov continued the crescendo outside the 6.75m. and so Piraeus increased the difference to +11 (60-49), at 28′. The only reaction of the visitors was a nail by Motley, as Kanan… still held a three-pointer for the end and thus Barzoka’s team closed the third period at +12 (63-51).

Olympiacos did not continue in the same way in the fourth quarter, as errors and bad choices in the attack, gave the opportunity to Gooduric and Motley to make a 7-0 run for Fener (63-58), until the 32nd minute. Then, the Piraeus tightened up defensively, fully controlling the rebounds and with Black and Sluka finding rhythm in the attack, they made their own 10-0, for +15 (73-58), in the 36th minute. There, Itoudis threw Edwards on the floor, who with his own points kept the Turks, but McKissick maintained the difference (79-64) for Olympiakos, who took the victory with the final 79-68.

The quarters: 19-21, 37-35, 63-51, 79-68

See the match statistics here

Watch the film of the match here