Olympiacos stops the invincible for CSKA!
Olympiacos bested CSKA Moscow 84-76 and climbed on the first ranking spot of the TOP-16, one round before the end of the first round. Vassilis Spanoulis was the top scorer of the Piraeus team.
The 'reds' did not begin the game well resulting for CSKA Moscow to lead 11-17. In the second quarter though, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos were incredible. Lafayette and Hunter entered the game and changed its course, and the same was true for Katsivelis, Lojeski and Printezis. So, with a partial 32-20, Olympiacos was leading 43-37 at half-time.
The Olympiacos players continued controlling the game completely. In the third quarter, Olympiacos was dominant on both ends of the court and the score reached two number digits (64-53). Olympiacos continued blocking one attack from CSKA after another into the fourth quarter, however, the Russians reacted, came close in the last two minutes of the game, but the Piraeus team got an easy 84 - 76 victory at the end.
The quarters: 11-17, 43-37, 64-53, 84-76.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Petway, Hunter 12, Dunston 5 (11 reb.), Spanoulis 19 (1), Sloukas 8 (2), Printezis 10 (1), Mantzaris 7 (1), Katsivelis 2, Lafayette 6 (2), Darden 2, Lojeski 13 (2).
CSKA Moscow (Ιtoudis): De Colo 13, Teodosic 20 (5), Fritzon 10, Nichols 3 (1), Markoishvili 9 (1), Korobkov, Weems, Zozulin 2, Vorontsevich 5, Kaun 2, Hines 12.
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "It's an important victory against a very powerful opponent and a team that is among the favorites to win the title. It was a high level game and I believe the fans enjoyed it. I think we totally deserved to win. We began hasty and nervous. We could not finish plays and that cost us in scoring. We relaxed later on and the 32 points we scored in the second quarter was the key to winning. Our defense worked even better in the second quarter. We got a difference in the third one. CSKA caught up with us in the fourth quarter, but we controlled the game. I congratulated my players. We need however to remain humble, beginning with our Greek League game that follows. We would like to dedicate the victory to our Presidents and to the fans that packed the gym. We want them to keep supporting our efforts. The break did us well. We had the chance to work on our mistakes", said at his original comment, while when asked about what he did not like about Olympiacos' performance, he said "We were nervous in the beginning and in a hurry to finish plays. But we certainly have the experience to manage this within the game".
DIMITRIS ITOUDIS: "Congratulations to Olympiacos. They won a fair victory, they deserved to win and they were better throughout the game. We started out well, but we stayed there. We had a bad defensive attitude in the second quarter. Olympiacos had 13 more possessions. We need to see our mistakes and try to be better starting tonight. I wouldn't like to comment on colleagues that preceded me with the team. We tried to have a healthy team and healthy locker-rooms. We never said that we weren't going to lose a game. The team cannot play at its peak every day. Chemistry has to do with player personalities. Each player tries to get incorporated in the group. But you have to deal with opponents as well that present you with problems, like Olympiacos has done tonight".
BRYANT DUNSTON: "Olympiacos thinks that can win each game. We made some very big shots and won a game that is going to help us a lot for what comes next".