A huge win vs Real Madrid at the SEF

Olympiacos bested Real Madrid 79-69 at home for the 6th round of the Euroleague.

Olympiacos began the game with good decision making in the offense and great focus on the defense. Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov took center stage scoring-wise (9-5, 3'), with Real finding answers with Ibaka who was playing at the perimeter (11-12, 5'). A 'red & white' partial 6-0 made the score 17-12, but ineffective defense during the last couple of minutes, allowed the hosts to run a partial 9-0 of their own (17-21). In the second quarter, Shaquielle McKissic found target from the 6.75m. to make the score 22-25 but the Madrilene struck back from the long-range and the game turned into a full-blown derby. A bucket by Fall, following a defensive rebound (29-34, 18') was the beginning of our team's 9-0 streak that closed the first half leading 36-34.

In the third quarter, the two teams were exchanging the lead up until Real run another 9-0 streak (46-55, 26'), which was the result of some off-target shots Olympiacos was taking. But our team got to react. Two threes by Thomas Walkup and two free throws by captain Kostas Papanikolaou dropped the difference to 2p. (55-57, 28'), with the quarter ending 56-59. In the fourth quarter, with Shaquielle McKissic leading the offense, the 'red & whites' got to set the tempo and began to patiently build a safety net (67-62, 35' and 75-67, 38'), with Thomas Walkup shaping a +10 lead with 49'' on the clock (77-67) and Sasha Vezenkov 'writing' the final 79-69.

The quarters: 17-21, 36-34, 56-59, 79-69