Succumbed in Bologna at the end

Olympiacos came an inch away from winning in Bologna, but did not manage to pull through, losing to Virtus 69-67, for the 15th round of the Euroleague. 

With good defense and Moustapha Fall dominating the post, our team got to lead by 8p. (4-12) at 5'. However, the Italians took advantage of the poor perimeter percentages of the 'red & whites' (0/7 threes) and with Cordinier running point in the offense, they closed in to 2p. (17-19) at 10'. The 'red & whites' though appeared to be more determined in the second quarter. With a 'granite' built defensive game and complete and utter dominance of the rebounds, together with multiple sourced scoring (they received valuable solutions from Milutinov, Larentzakis, Peters and Brazdeikis), they succeeded in completely controlling the game (20-31 at 14') and to close the first half at +12 (28-40). 

In the second half, the hosts found solutions (mainly from the perimeter) and closed in to 5p. (40-45) at 24'. However, Isaiah Canaan, with two back-to-back threes, gave our team confidence, so that they intercepted the Italians comeback (47-57) at 31'. Fall's fourth foul, which practically benched him, tipped the scales and combined with our team's difficulty to find score, allowed Virtus to turn the situation around and get ahead with a three by Dobric (67-65) at 37'.  

With 2/3 free throws, Larentzakis tied the score 67-67 2:34'' before the end. Both teams competed in missed scoring, until Hackett made the final 69-67 with a lay-up, 41'' before the clock expired. During that time, Walkup was charged with an offensive foul 31.3'' before the end and Larentzakis missed a three-point shot at the buzzer. 

The quarters: 17-19, 28-40, 47-55, 69-67.

VIRTUS

OLYMPIACOS