Still invincible in the Euroleague!
Olympiacos won 85-81 in the Neptunas home court and reached three wins in three games for the Euroleague Regular Season. Vassilis Spanoulis was the top scorer of the game with 34.
In an outstanding showdown that went down to the wire, Olympiacos Piraeus stayed undefeated in Group D by edging Neptunas Klaipeda 81-85 in overtime on the road on Friday. Olympiacos improved to 3-0 atop Group D, while Neptunas dropped to 1-2. Former Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis paced the winners with a career-high 34 points – 17 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime. Kostas Sloukas added 13 while Bryant Dunston and Matt Lojeski each had 10 for Olympiacos. Deividas Gailius led Neptunas with 16 points. Donatas Zavackas scored 14, Simas Galdikas and Mustafa Shakur each had 13 while Martynas Mazeika got 11 for the hosts. Galdikas also hauled in 11 rebounds. Gailius and Galdikas shined early to give Neptunas a 12-9 lead. Spanoulis and Lojeski stepped up to give Olympiacos a 15-17 edge after 10 minutes. A 0-7 run which Brent Petway capped with an alley-oop slam made it a double-digit game, 17-27. Mustafa Shakur and Gailius brought Neptunas within 30-36, but a buzzer-beating driving layup by Spanoulis fixed the halftime score at 30-38. Gaulius led a 7-0 run that brought Neptunas back in the game and hit free throws for a 47-46 edge. Spanoulis and Kostas Sloukas stepped up for Olympiacos, but a layup by Mindaugas Girdziunas tied it at 55-55 through three quarters. Neptunas led 70-65 with less than four minutes remaining, but an outstanding Spanoulis put Olympiacos back ahead, 74-76. A big basket by Zavackas forced overtime at 76-76. It all came down to the final seconds of the extra period, as Shakur missed a free throw at 81-82 and Petway and Sloukas sealed the outcome from the foul line. (by euroleague.net)
The quarters: 15-17, 30-38, 55-55, 76-76, 81-85.
Neptunas (Maksvytis): Mazeika 11 (1), Girdziunas 4, Sinica, Dimsa 5, Gailius 16 (2), Galdikas 13, Shakur 13, Zavackas 14 (2), Vasylius, Butkevicius 5.
Οlympiacos (Tomic): Petway 9 (1 3p, 7reb), Hunter (3reb), Dunston 10 (5reb), Spanoulis 34 (6 3p., 5reb, 2st, 7as), Sloukas 13 (2 3p, 5reb, 3as), Agravanis 6 (1 3p, 3reb), Mantzaris (2as), Kavvadas, Lafayette 3 (1), Lojeski 10 (2 3p, 6reb, 2as).
ΜΙΛΑΝ ΤΟΜΙΤΣ: «Today it was a good game for the spectators, because one team won in overtime. Basketball is basketball, one team wins, the other team loses. My team started playing good defense in the first half, but in the second half Neptunas was better on offense and came back to the game. In overtime, my team showed spirit, played together and won a good game. Considering the injuries we have dealing with and all else, we did a very good job. And finally, I want to say that we need to be happy with every win, either by one or by ten points, the fans of the team should be happy every time the team wins. My players played as a champions team should"
As for the next day, Milan Tomic was clear: «Work, work, work and AEK on Monday».
The Olympiacos coach was then asked about Dimitris Agravanis performances and said that "Agravanis has been working well, he's got time on his side, to gain experience and everything will come in time».
In regard to the next Euroleague game against Red Star, the coach pointed out that «it's one more difficult game. We know the gym is going to be packed with 20,000 people, we are going to prepare, but we should run ahead of our selves, we play against AEK first. It's still a long way till the game against Red Star».
KOSTAS SLOUKAS: "We knew it was going to be a difficult game, Neptunas is a rhythm team, they punished us for allowing them to run the fast break. We played as a team and won an important game. I try to do the best for my team. Vassilis is one of the best players in Europe, if not the best. Vassilis made some big baskets and kept us in the game. We are keeping the win. The team needs victories to find itself. Now we need to win the game against AEK"