A win over Bayern upon Ward's comeback
Olympiacos secured a 95–80 victory against Bayern and improved their record to 12–8 in the competition.
Olympiacos’ top scorer was Sasha Vezenkov, who finished with 25 points and reached a historic milestone, becoming the top player in performance index rating in our club’s EuroLeague history.
Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Walkup, Dorsey, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Milutinov, and the international point guard scored the first points of the game after his own steal. Bayern began the match with lots of energy, with the Obst - McCormack duo standing out offensively, but Olympiacos provided answers, mainly relying on its frontline. Vezenkov and Milutinov scored 11 of the 21 points posted by our team in the first quarter, while the Bulgarian forward, with 9 PIR in that span, laid the foundation to become the top-rated player in our history, surpassing Giorgos Printezis.
In the second quarter, Bayern started with great percentages from beyond the three-point line and, combined with aggressive defense, took an 8p. lead (26–34). At that point, however, Tyson Ward showed how much he had been missed by Olympiacos over the past month. The American forward scored 10 points in a short span, lifted the crowd at the Peace and Friendship Stadium with his energy, and put the 'red & whites' ahead with a dunk for the 42–40 markup.
During the same stretch, Sasha Vezenkov did his job in the frontcourt, reaching 14 points by halftime, while Donta Hall also showcased his offensive talent by scoring 7 points in the quarter. At the end of the first half, Olympiacos was ahead by 2p. (49–47).
The second half opened with our captain, Kostas Papanikolaou, scoring 5 consecutive points (54–47), giving our team confidence moving forward. Bayern once again tried to come back with long-range shots, but Sasha Vezenkov took over, giving our team a double-digit lead (65–54, 4:06'' before the end of the third quarter). The period closed with a buzzer-beating three by Evan Fournier, which pushed the margin to 12 points (73–61).
Svetislav Pesic’s team, however, was not done yet. With Obst continuing his amazing run after his 37-point performance against Baskonia, the Bavarians cut the deficit to seven points (76–69) with 7' left. During the final 10 minutes, the pace of the game dropped significantly, with the two teams scoring just 15 points over the first half of the quarter. That stretch of the game was marked by Monte Morris' injury, who landed awkwardly after a play and left the court with assistance.
The game ended with a 15-point advantage for the hosts (95–80).
The quarters: 21–23, 49–47, 73–61, 95–80.
