First place in the Rixos Cup
Olympiacos kept on with winning results in pre-season games and by besting Besiktas 87-86 for the Rixos Cup final won the first place of the tournament.
Olympiacos was excellent in the first five minutes of the game in defense. It was this way that the Turkish team was restricted at scoring only two points during that period, but the reds did not succeed in widening the margin lacking good shooting percentages. The score from 4-2 in the first five minutes became 13-10 at 8’ with the refs having managed to agitate the coach and the players of our team and with fouls being 4-10 in favor of the Turks thus allowing the opposing team to mainly score with free throws and the first quarter ending 13-12 in favor of Besiktas.
Besiktas succeeded, once again with free throws (20-9 in the first half and 11-17 fouls), to open the margin and lead by 10 points (29-19), but Sloukas and Printezis quickly covered for the difference and half time closed for the European Champions at -3 (33-30).
Besiktas led 47-32 in the third quarter, but the Champions of Europe made a quick comeback and the third quarter ended with the team of Giorgos Bartzokas trailing 57-51.
Perperoglou and Printezis took action in the last quarter. Defense dented up, Olympiacos won control of rebounding and thus managed to lead 65-66 with a partial 15-8 in six minutes. The teams moved on head to head from that point on and finally the encounter was led to overtime with a basket by Simmons who tied the game at 78-78.
It was then that Matt Lodjeski took matters into his own hands and gave the final victory to the European Champions since the final 87-86 was formed with his own basket.
Τhe quarters: 13-12, 33-30, 57-51, 78-78, 86-87
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 6 (7reb), Law 4, Dunston 8, Perperoglou 7 (1), Papapetrou, Sloukas 17 (1 3p, 4as), Simmons 14 (7reb), Printezis 11 (1 3p), Agravanis 4, Mantzaris 1 (7as), Lodjeski 15 (3 3p, 3as).
Besiktas (Kantemir): Gler 9 (1), Ozmizrak 3 (1), Lofton 32 (3), Broekhoff 5 (1), Ruzic 2, Foster 5 (1), Buckman 14 (1), Sirin 2, Iverson 9, Topaloglou 5.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “We played a closed game with overtime and it was the best preparation game for us. We made some mistakes in defense; I have a lot of respect for the way Besiktas played, they showed patience in offense and allowed free shots. We allowed Lofton to find rhythm, but it’s important, just like we have always done, to refuse to lose. I wish to make the best comments possible for the Rixos Cup tournament and its organization; I wish to thank everyone for the hospitality and the excellent atmosphere”.
MATT LODJESKI: “We did not play well in the first half, we allowed them to lead. They were better in offense and mainly in rebounding. Lofton was making all his shots, we could not explain what was going on, we played very well though in the fourth quarter, it’s important we did not quit the game, we were patient and we finally found the way to win”.