Took care of business and on to the final
Olympiacos did what was required against Maroussi, securing a 91–67 victory and advancing to the final of the Allwyn Final 8 of the Greek Cup. They now await their opponent, who will emerge from the winner of the matchup between Iraklis and Panathinaikos.
Sasha Vezenkov was the top scorer for our team with 16 points, while Giorgos Bartzokas saw 4 if his players score double figures and all 12 getting on the scoresheet.
Olympiacos' coach started the game with Thomas Walkup, Evan Fournier, Kostas Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Nikola Milutinov, and our team was outstanding from the start. The 'red & whites' moved the ball superbly in the first quarter and, with 9 assists, knocked down 7 of their 11 three-point attempts to build a 14-point lead (15–29) at the end of the period. Several different players stood out, with Walkup, Fournier and Papanikolaou each hitting two three-pointers, while Vezenkov went 3/3 inside the paint.
In the second quarter, Monte Morris made his return after a month and a half out, recording 8 points and 1 assist in his first 6 minutes of action. During the same stretch, Omiros Netzipoglou made his first appearance and scored 4 points, while for Maroussi, De Sousa successfully finished several tough plays under the basket.
With his third three-pointer, Papanikolaou pushed the lead to its largest of the first half (+18, 30–48), before Salash, with a pump fake and a buzzer-beating three, trimmed it to +15 at halftime moments later.
Our captain started the second half the same way he ended the first, and Olympiacos extended their lead even further. However, Maroussi responded with long-range shots from Touliatos and King to cut the deficit to 11 (44–55) and then to 10 (49–59) 2 minutes before the end of the quarter. Bartzokas called a timeout a minute later, and his players reacted on both ends of the floor to close the third quarter up by 12 (53–65). At that point, misfortune struck again for Olympiacos, as Milutinov suffered a blow to his right thumb and left the game. The Serbian center will be examined later in the day to determine whether he has sustained any damage.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Morris’ presence gave fresh energy to our team, and with Alec Peters at the “3” produced their best offensive basketball of the game. With a 3-pointer from the American forward, Olympiacos opened up a 23-point lead (55–78), going on a 13–2 run to begin the final period.
From that point on, Bartzokas had the opportunity to distribute playing time, with Giannoulis Larentzakis taking his chance and scoring 5 points in the closing minutes. Giorgos Bourneles also checked into the game and scored his first point with the Olympiacos jersey in the Greek Cup competition.
The quarters: 15–29, 33–48, 53–65, 67–91