A road win and off to the Top-8!

Olympiacos beat Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade 89-86 and mathematically 'sealed' qualification to the Euroleague Top-8, one round before the end of the regular season.

The 'red & whites' had many ups and downs throughout the game. They got to lead by 9 at 5' (3-12), but then got stuck in the offense and the hosts, running a partial 8-0, closed into one point (11-12). With Alec Peters in a leading role, our team once again grew the distance (11-21), however, unforced turnovers and missed lay-ups did not allow them to completely control the game (26-30 at 15'). With a three by Brazdeikis Olympiacos got to +8 (30-38), however, poor choices when attacking and lost rebounds allowed Zvezda to close into 3p. (39-42) by 20'.  

The outlook did not change in the second half. The 'red & whites' found target from the three-point line and upped the difference to 9p. (41-50), but Crvena Zvezda replied similarly, tying the score at 52 points (25'). Striking from the long-range once again (with Goss, Papanikolaou and Long), our team maintained the lead (56-61), but once again struggled to score, watching the hosts taking the lead for the first time (64-63) by the end of the 3rd quarter. Moses Wright and Kostas Papanikolaou took it upon themselves to turn the situation around (75-81 at 37'), but the game remained a derby to the end, since Zvezda would not give up the fight. Executing from the 3-point line, the Serbs equaled the score (8i4-84), with 47'' on the clock.

With his second three in the competition, Wright made the score 84-87. What followed was 0/2 free throws by Long, a bucket by Bolomboy (86-87) and 2/2 free throws by Walkup (86-89) with about 3'' to the end. As for their last chance to tie the game, the hosts made a waste of it, since Teodosic's turnover sent the ball out of bounds. 

The quarters: 14-23, 39-42, 64-63, 86-89.

CRVENA ZVEZDA

OLYMPIACOS