Written on 14 September 2024. Posted in Games.

Ι.Β.Τ. Crete: Οlympiacos – Virtus 78-66

Olympiacos bested Virtus 78-66 and will playing against Fenerbahce tomorrow for the International Basket Tournament Crete final.

With Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov in leading roles, Olympiacos 'ran' a 7-0 streak and was leading 7-3 at 2'. The Italians pressed in defense, leading our team to turning the ball over and with a partial 12-4 turned the tables and got to lead by 4 (11-15). Filip Petrusev, who was called to cover for the center position, due to the absence of Fall and Milutinov, did quite a good job at it (20-22 at 9'). However, Virtus 'struck' the defensive weaknesses of the 'red & whites' and closed the first quarter with a 6p. lead (20-26).

Alec Peters tied the score (26-26) with 2 back-to-back threes. Lost defensive rebounds, continuous turnovers and mainly the good percentages by the Italians from the perimeter, resulted nevertheless in Virtus opening up the margin to 12p. (28-40 at 16'). Our team though didn't seem rattles by it... They pressed in the back court, ran the fast break and closed in to 3p. (37 - 40). Bologna however resisted the counter attack and maintained the lead until the end of the first half.

In the second half, Moses Wright upped his game and dominated rebounds and subsequently both posts, when at the same time Tyler Dorsey was finding score from the 3-point line and hence giving a huge assist to Olympiacos getting ahead 51-49 at 26'. The game was instantly turned into a derby, with the 'red & whites' closing the 3rd quarter with the slimmest of margins (57-56), thanks to a three by Kostas Papapanikolaou.

Pressing defense and Alec Peters spearheading the offense, gave the 'red & whites' a 6p. lead (66-60 at 35'), however, Virtus took advantage of unforced turnovers by our team and closed in to one point (67=66). The American forward though once again took over and together with Luka Vildoza called the game for Olympiacos (78-66).