The qualification to the semifinals of the Stoiximan Basket League playoffs was secured on Saturday night (18/05) by Olympicwho passed through the Kleisto of Ano Liosion with the impressive 100-68, making it 2-0 in the series against her opponent AEK Betsson BC!
Having a plurality in the attack, but also excellent percentages behind the 6.75m. (12/26tr., 46%), the “red and white” completely dominated the match from the very beginning of the match, pressing the “gas” in the second half resulting in this big difference.
The first scorer for Piraeus was… ahastos, Nikola Milotinov, with 17 points (8/8d., 1/1b.) and 7 rebounds, while an excellent appearance was also made by Alec Peters with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists! He also moved closely Isaiah Canaan with 16 points and 4/8 three-pointers, with the latter two – being the long-range scorers – showing a very good face in view of and semi-final with Real Madrid in the Final 4 in Berlin next Friday (24/05)!
For AEK, which now this year’s season is overMcRae and Kuzminskas stood out with 12 points each.
Now, Olympiacos is waiting to find out its opponent in the semi-finals, who will emerge from the pair Pigeon bwin-Kolossos Rhodeswith Vassilis Spanoulis’ team leading 1-0 in the series.
The match:
THE Olympic came in strong from the start of the match, constantly targeting the racket and Mustafa Fal. With the Frenchman opening the scoring and Kanaan hitting a floater, the Reds jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute before McRae made two personal baskets to cut it to 5-4 at 3′.
Peters then answered with the same “coin” and combined with a three-pointer by Walkup, the Piraeus went on a quick 7-0 run for 12-4 at 5′. This streak was interrupted by Randle with 1/2 shots to follow the three-pointers of Kanaan and Randle and then the shots of the American guard of Olympiakos for 17-8. In fact, a little later, Fall made it 22-12 with nice baskets and an impressive dunk, and Peters made the score of the quarter with a layup in end of the period for 24-12with the visitors closing the first part with an impressive 9-1 in the ratio of assists to errors!
It’s different second quarter, where his team Ilias Zouro she turned up the “speed” in her offensive game, taking advantage of all 5 mistakes of Olympiakos in the period. With his four points Hall and six others of his Yes T from two three-pointers, the “yellow and black” gnawed away at the difference, dropping it at 7 (22-29) at 13′. The “red and whites” reacted with Milutinov’s nice hook, but also the three-pointers of Kanaan and Lutdzis, launched the difference for the first time at +15 for 37-22 at 15′.
Nevertheless, the AEK returned to the match again thanks mainly to Mindaugas Kuzminskas who with 8 points in less than 3 minutes, reduced for their team to 7 (34-41). In the last two minutes, both teams traded blows in a more open match, with Olympiakos eventually going to locker room in favor of 49-41.
Olympiacos entered the second half obviously more focused, which thanks to its defense managed to “build” good differences. With Isaiah Kanaan hitting two consecutive three-pointers and the team receiving the first field goal after 3.5 minutes of the game, the “red and white” increased the difference to +10 (45-55) in the 24th minute. With Peters and Papanikolaou entering the offensive equation, Giorgos Bartzokas’ team continued to increase the difference (48-62), while, despite the efforts of McRae and Randle, Lountzis in the 29th minute made it +18 (51-69 ) behind 6.75m, with Papanikolaou shaping the quarter score and 72-53 with three points in the finale.
Somehow, Olympiacos entered the fourth and final period with a big advantage, which it managed exceptionally until the end of the match. In fact, with the “red and white” having found a good rhythm in defense and attack, the difference kept increasing, with Nikola Milutinov dominating under the two baskets during this period. However, of all the baskets that went in, the one that was celebrated the most was his 3-pointer Benjamin Ambosi at the end of the match, with which the final 100-68!
The quarters: 12-24, 41-49, 53-72, 68-100.
See here the statistics of the match.
Source: Sport Fm
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