He confirmed his superiority and came away victorious from the “hot” indoor race of Ano Liosion Olympic!
THE AEK Betsson BC she fought it and had her chance to claim the victory entering the “final stretch” of the match having reduced it to 72-76, but the “red and white” remained cool and celebrated the victory with 92-80improving their Stoiximan Basket League record to 12-1, before traveling to Spain to face Barcelona (10/1) and Baskonia (12/1) for the second consecutive EuroLeague “devil’s week”! On the other hand, AEK fell to 6-7 and is in 5th place in the standings.
Top for the winners o Papanikolaouwho finished the game with an impressive double-double (20 points, 14 rebounds), while valuable solutions for Olympiakos were also provided by Williams-Goss (16pts, 9 assists) and Peters (17p, 6 rib). As for the hosts, he stood out McRae with 21 points, while 16 had o Tillmanalong with 10 rebounds, and 12 o Kouseloglou.
The match
With Karabela, Randle, Netzipoglou, Kouzeloglou and Tillman, Joan Platha started the game, without counting on the injured Kuzminskas and the newcomers Knight and Lindo, while Bartzokas, who did not have Sikma, McKissick and Kanaan available, lined up Walkup, Williams-Goss, Papanicolaou, Peters, and Fall. The match was ambiguous in its first minutes, with Papanikolaou scoring four points and nailing the surprise for 4-7, while he reached 6 from very early on, forming 8-12. THE Fal nailed it too Candy made AEK’s first 3-pointer, cutting it to 11-14, Goss made his second 3-pointer of the game and Peters scored from close range, putting Olympiakos at +8 for the first time (11-19). Morgan beat Fall to the racket and McRae hit a three to cut the deficit to 16-21 for the home side as the first period ended with Olympiakos ahead by 16-23.
THE McRae scored impressively to surprise AEK for 18-23 at the beginning of the second quarter, but the Mitrou-Long with five points he gave them a double-digit difference over the guests (18-30). Through its defense, Olympiacos found rhythm on the other side of the floor as well, reaching the difference in its favor up to +15 (23-37), before AEK reacted, making a 12-2 run with McRae as the protagonist, reducing to 35-40. The “red and white” responded with a short run of their own for 35-46, Tillman and Netzipoglou cut it to 39-47, before Papanikolaou beat the clock from close range, making it 39-49 after an aggressive rebound of Fal’s missed shot!
The third period began with both teams entering the court “cold”, but with Papanikolaou to quiet his… violin, reaching personal points for 41-53. AEK reduced to 48-58 with a three-pointer by Netzipoglou, but Olympiacos, having its defense as its biggest “weapon”, launched the difference in its favor for the first time in +17 (52-69)before Morgan shaped it 55-69 at the end of the quarter, with a basket and a foul.
However, Olympiacos started the fourth quarter quite sluggishly while AEK improved dramatically in their defense! The “red and white” scored only one basket in the first 5.5 minutes of the period, with AEK taking advantage of the occasion, constantly scoring with surprises and having as its main protagonist McRae! With an 8-0 run and a three-pointer by the American forward with 3:50 left to go, AEK dropped to 72-76setting fire to the indoor stadium of Ano Liosia, but Olympiacos did not lose its cool, with Papanikolaou essentially sealing the victory for his team, with a three-pointer for 74-84, 1:30 before the final. The final 80-92 lifted Olympiakos to 12-1, while the home team fell to 6-7.
The quarters: 16-23, 39-49, 57-71, 80-92
The match statistics
The Live of sport-fm.gr
Source: Sport Fm
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