Olympiacos beat AEK Betsson BC in the final!

For 37 minutes AEK Betsson BC made it very difficult for him Olympic in the empty – due to punishment – SEF, however the defense at the end and their three points Walkup, Laurentzaki and Kanan they gave him the victory 79-71for 2/2 in the Basket League.

The leader of the Piraeus was Alec Peters with 16 points and 8 rebounds, with Giannouli Larentzakis to add 14p. and the Thomas Walkup another 12p.

From his team Joan Plathawhich still has no victory in the Basket League (0-2), stood out Mindaugas Kuzminskas with 23p. and 6 rebounds.

Now, the two teams turn to their European obligations with Olympiakos facing in Milan Armani (18/10) for the EuroLeague and AEK Betsson BC to premiere in the Basketball Champions League against Ludwigsburg.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fall, Peters, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkup, while AEK Betsson BC started with Tillman, Kouseloglou, McLemore, Netzipoglou and Hall. Both teams started the contest with mistakes, with the Union going 0-4, to which the “red and white” responded with an 8-0 run (8-4), until the 4th minute. After that, the match went pretty much into contact with a lot of fouls and generally both teams hitting mostly through the racket as they couldn’t find shots from the perimeter. Piraeus maintained their lead thanks to Milutinov, closing the first period at +4 (16-12).

The pace was much better at the beginning of the second quarter. Initially, Milutinov and Peters sent Olympiakos to +8 (22-14), with Campengele and Kuzminskas responding for Union and Union getting closer to the basket (26-24), at 14′. The “red and whites” reacted and with Larentzakis and Walkup escaped to +7 (33-26), but their many mistakes gave the visitors the opportunity to reduce the difference again with McRae and Kuzminskas, making it 36-33 in the first half.

At the end of the… gas both went into the second half with Walkap and Papanikolaou maintaining Olympiakos’ lead (46-42), but Kuzminskas catching fire again and putting Union ahead (46-47), at 25′. The response of the “red and whites” was repeated good defenses and baskets in the surprise, which gave them an 8-0 run, for +7 (54-47), in the 27th minute. Tilman and Hall reacted again and brought the match to the basket (54-52), however in the last two minutes the Piraeus tightened defensively again and with Peters closed the third period at +5 (59-54).

With good defenses and surprise baskets, Olympiacos started the fourth quarter and with a 6-0 run went to +11 (65-54), at 32′. However, mistakes followed from the “red and whites” and with the return of Kuzminskas and McRae, the Union ran an 11-0 run initially to equalize (65-65), while with a three-pointer by the Lithuanian, it went ahead (67-68). The visitors stayed in the match until the 37th minute, where the score was tied (69-69). From that point on, Bartzoka’s players got energy in the defense and with big three-pointers by Larentzakis, Walkup and Kanan they went to +10 (79-69), with Kuzminskas’ shots shaping the final 79-71.

The quarters: 16-12, 36-33, 59-54, 79-71

See the match statistics here

Watch the film of the match here