He healed his wounds against Bologna and Olympiacos came close to the top again

He healed his wounds with victory over her Virtus Bologna Olympiacos at SEF!

In a match with a big “must”, the “red and white” managed to impose their superiority (with the exception of the second quarter which they lost with a partial score of 29-14) and take the victory with 87-77returning to positive results after their back-to-back defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star!

Thus, the Piraeus improved their record to 10-6 and moved back to within one win of the top of the EuroLeague table as they now turn their attention to the game against Alba at SEF (20/12, 21:15), so that they can make it 2/2 in the “devil’s week” and close the first round of the regular season in the best way!

Leading for Olympiakos o Vezenkovwho finished the match with a double-double (27 points and 10 rebounds), while the MVP performance was also Fournierwith 20 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and very good defenses, especially in the second half.

On the other hand, for her Bolognawhich fell to 3-13 and remains at the bottom of the standings, they stood out Belinelli (20p with 4/8 three-pointers) and Morgan (15p).

The match:



With Walkup, Fournier, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Fal, Olympiacos started the game, with Giorgos Bartzokas again having the French center at his disposal, but not Wright, Evans and Mensah. On the other hand, Ivanovic chose Morgan, Paiola, Clyburn, Polonara and Zizic for his starting five, having for a very important absence that of Sengelia. Before the start of the match, a minute’s silence was held in memory of the former Olympiakos player who passed away, Giannis Tima.

The match started with Olympiakos entering the court strongly and taking a 9-3 lead with his foul basket Fournier and three points from the Frenchman and the Vezenkovwhile Fal made it 11-3 after an offensive rebound. Having entered the defense very hungry and making the right decisions in their attacks along with 4/5 three-pointers, the “red and white” shot the difference in their favor up to +18 (25-7), while Vezenkov reached 14 personal points from first quarter, before Diouf reduced for the 29-17 of the first period.

Did he dribble before scoring this time??#MotorolaMagicMoments @Moto pic.twitter.com/BzQnTmqOCx

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 18, 2024

The picture of the second quarter was different, with Olympiakos “blocking” its attack and remaining without a basket for almost 3.5 minutes, giving Bologna the right to reduce to 29-21. Peters and Lorentzakis they gave solutions aggressively with their two three-pointers, but the Piraeus did not score two points for almost 10 (!) minutes, while the guests found a rhythm offensively and with a very “hot” Belinellithey were increasingly reducing the difference (36-29). Vildosa stepped onto the court and energized both defense and offense, making it 38-31, but Belinelli struck again with a 3-pointer and an off-balance shot to make it 14 and make it 41-36. The first half ended with consecutive three-pointers from Morgan and Clyburnwhile Bologna took its first lead of the game after being outscored 29-14 in the second period, for 43-46.

Bank is open @Da_Thrill21 @VirtusSegafredo gets the lead after being down by 18 in the first Q #MotorolaMagicMoments I @Moto pic.twitter.com/d8cdWvn19e

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 18, 2024

The third period started with Olympiakos being very dynamic in their defenses not allowing their opponent to score for 4 whole minutes, but they were missing some three-pointers that were executed in very good conditions and did not manage to make a big difference in their favor. THE Walkup with a three-pointer he put the “red and white” in front again (48-46) and Zizic reduced it to 50-48, but this was the only basket of Bologna in 7 minutes of the third period (1/10 shooting)! With him Fournier playing great defense and… heating up the offense with back-to-back 3-pointers, Olympiacos once again built a double-digit lead (60-48) while allowing the Italians to score just 7 points in the third quarter, before Morgan configure it 64-56 of the third period, with his shots after a foul by Goss on a three-point attempt.

THE Fournier continued to be decisive, hitting a three-pointer (4/8) to reach 16 personal points and give Olympiakos a double-digit lead again (67-56), while also playing very good defenses, stirring up the crowd at SEF! Morgan cut it to 71-64 with 5 minutes left in the final, but that was the last time Olympiacos worried, as the Vezenkov with his big three-pointer he made it 74-64, o Peters he also hit from long range for 79-64 and the “red and white” finally reached the victory comfortably with 87-77!

The quarters: 29-17, 43-46, 64-56, 87-77

The match statistics

Live of the match from sport-fm.gr