“Steel” Olympiacos subdued Maccabi in Belgrade!

Although everything went wrong for him o Olympic came back with the “double” from Belgrade!

After an excellent first half and after they withstood her great pressure Maccabi Tel Avivthe “red and white” won 79-74going up to 4-4.

As if their absences were not enough Milutinov and McKissickThe Williams-Goss left with an injury in the 15th minute, while o Peters was sent off – unfairly – in the 25th minute. However, the Piraeus did not lose their lead at any point in the match and with a decisive offensive rebound by Brazdeikis in the last seconds they “locked” the pink sheet.

The great will to win from Barzokas players was confirmed of the 18 offensive rebounds that they got, while they had a very good ratio with 21 assistsfor 12 errors.

Leading for Olympiakos are Peters and Walkup with 13 points each, while from 10p. had the Fal and Kanan. Very positive about their return Sikma with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

From the “people’s team”, which fell to 3-4, the first scorer was Sorkin with 16 points.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Peters, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. Very good first two minutes from the “red and whites”, as with their defense and Fal a point of reference in the attack, they escaped to +6 (1-7). Then, the Piraeus started the easy mistakes with Maccabi responding with Cleveland and Nimbo and equalizing (9-9), in the 5th minute. The reaction of Barzoka’s team was a good movement of the ball and a shot from outside the 6.75m. with Walkup and Peters, who sent her to +9 (13-22), at 8′. The tempo of the match remained high in the last two minutes, with Sikma keeping Olympiakos, Blatt respectively the Israelis and the “red and whites” closing the first period at +8 (19-27).

With forwards Sikma and Williams-Gos, Olympiacos escaped to +10 (22-32), at the beginning of the second period. Maccabi’s answer came with Blatt and the three-pointers leading the way, reducing the difference (30-36) in the 13th minute. Then, the Piraeus took out defenses and running in the open field with Peters went to +11 (30-41), at 15′. That’s where Williams-Goss left the match. However, from that point on, Barzoka’s team controlled the match through their defense, forcing the Israelis into mistakes and missed shots. On the other hand, Peters, Larentzakis and Lountzis gave points to the attack and thus the “red and white” went to the locker room with +15 (36-51).

Slow start from Olympiakos in the second half, with Maccabi going on a 4-0 run (40-51) in the first two minutes. Then, the “red and white” found points from Papanikolaou and Peters, escaping again to +14 (46-60), which they maintained until the 25th minute. There, the… referees spoiled the minds of Piraeus, as Peters was charged with a severe fourth foul and at the… cap with a technical penalty, resulting in his ejection. Thus, the Israelis found a rhythm and reduced with a 7-0 run (53-60), in the 28th minute. In the last two minutes, the defense of Barzoka’s team held up and Fal and Kanan sent it to +9 (55-64), at the end of the third period.

With difficulty in the attack, Olympiacos also entered the fourth quarter, with Rivero and Sorkin making individual scores for Maccabi 6-2 (61-66), in the first two minutes. With their defense, the “red and whites” dropped the tempo of the match and with Fal providing offensive solutions, they went to +9 (63-72), at 35′. Misguided attacks by both of them followed, with Walkap sending the Piraeus team to +8 (64-72), in the 37th minute. The offensive rebounds kept Maccabi alive and with a three-pointer by Sorkin, they got closer to the basket (72-74), in the 39th minute. Walkup gave Olympiakos a breather and Sorkin made it 74-76 with 2/2 shots, 26.3 minutes before the end. At 13.1” Brazdeikis made 1/2 from the line, he took the offensive rebound and Kanan with 2/2 shots, sent the “red and whites” to +5 (74-79), at 7.2′ ‘. In the last attack, Coulson missed and Barzoka’s team celebrated the victory!

The quarters: 19-27, 36-51, 55-64, 74-79

See the match statistics here

Watch the film of the match here