Olympiacos turned up the heat in the second half and took the qualification lead!
His team Giorgos Bartzokas prevailed with a score of 92-75 AEK Betsson in SEF for the first game of its playoffs Stoiximan Basket Leaguemade it 1-0 in the series between them and has the chance to qualify for the semi-finals on Saturday (18/05, 17:15) in Ano Liosia.
The Union was competitive in the first half and showed a very positive image, having a lead of score 41-42 at rest. In the second part, however, Olympic step on the gas with a partial score 31-17 in the third quarter, and cruised to a comfortable victory without worrying in the final stretch.
MVP of the match with 18 points and 8 rebounds was Nikola Milutinov, in his first league match after his injury in the derby with Panathinaikos AKTOR. He had 16 points Alec Peterswhile 11 had o Williams-Gossand from 10 o Kanaan and Lountzis.
On the part of AEK Betsson, a great appearance was made by Mindaugas Kuzminskas with 24 points and 9/15 from the field, while 15 points were scored by Dimitris Agravanis.
The match
THE Olympic opened the scoring with an offensive rebound and basket by Peters, while Agravanis responded in the same way for 2-2. Papanikolaou with a floater made it 4-2, while Hall leveled with two shots at 4-4. THE Peters scored for three from the corner, while Agravanis with a difficult basket cut to 7-6. Goss made a layup and McRae a shot to make it 9-7, while the former also hit a 3-pointer for 12-7. Hall dropped a shot and McRae made one to make it 12-10, and the scoring from the line continued to make it 14-11. Randle hit from a medium distance (14-13), while o Candy made a layup for the Union’s first lead (14-15). THE Canaan put Olympiakos in front again with a three-pointer (17-15), while Milutinov scored with a follow-up for 19-15. Netzipoglou scored five straight points and scored 19-20 in the first quarter.
In the second period, Kuzminskas executed from long range (19-23), while Knight made a layup for AEK Betsson 19-25. The Lithuanian forward scored with a hook (19-27), while Luntzis gave Olympiakos a solution with a three-pointer for 22-27. The junior guard also made two shots (24-27), while Kanaan added another for 25-27. The excellent Lountzis equalized with a layup (27-27), while Kuzminskas and McKissick exchanged three-pointers for 30-30. THE AEK Betsson pass me again McRae and Randle (32-34), but McKissick answered with a goal-foul and Luntzis made a three-pointer with a board for 37-34. McRae and Kanaan exchanged baskets (39-36), with Hatzidakis to score 4 consecutive points for the visitors’ new lead (39-40). The half ended 41-42 with Kuzminskas’ dunk as time expired.
In the second part, Olympic regained the lead with Fal’s nailer (45-44), while Agravanis made a three-pointer for 45-47. Peters responded and Papanikolaou made it 50-47 with a layup, while the American forward made another three-pointer for 53-47. THE Papanikolaou with a three-pointer and Kanaan with an acrobatic basket brought the home team to +7 (58-51), with Hall responding from the top (58-54). Goss ran into the surprise and scored for 60-54, while o Peters with shots brought the hosts to +8 (62-54). THE Milutinov with a nail he created the first double-digit difference of the match (64-54), while he also made two shots for 66-54. THE Kuzminskas gave AEK Bettson a breather with a three-pointer from the top (66-57), while in the next phase he found a goal with a floater for 66-59. Milutinov continued to dominate and brought the match to 72-59, which was also the score of the third quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth period, Netzipoglou and McKissick they traded layups for 74-61, while Randle cut it to 74-63 with a nice basket. Gosh and Fal they increased the difference to +15 for Olympiakos (78-63), while Agravanis and Mitrou-Long exchanged three-pointers for 83-66. THE Kuzminskas nailed the surprise (83-69), while Milutinov responded in kind and then hooked for 87-71. From then on, nothing could change and Olympiacos won with a score of 92-75.
The quarters: 19-20, 41-42, 72-59, 92-75
Detailed match statistics here.
Source: Sport Fm
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