Easy qualification to the final

Olympiacos beat Red Star 70-56 for the semi final for the second International Tournament in Heraklion Crete and will be facing Maccabi Tel Aviv for the final. 

The Piraeus team played an excellent defensive game from the start and led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. The players of Giannis Sfairopoulos, with Milutinov and Roberts in the lead, went to the locker rooms at half time with a margin of +17 (39-22).  

In the third quarter, the 'reds' weren't as impressive with their defense, but they had not difficulty maintaining the margin in their favor. The fourth quarter was the same and the game ended 70-56 for the Piraeus team.

Printezis, Arsenopoulos and Toliopoulos did not play.

The quarters: 19-10, 39-22, 53-38, 70-56.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 4, Papapetrou, Spanoulis 6 (3as), Agravanis 8, Milutinov 16 (8reb), Strelnieks 6 (2), Tillie 4 (7reb), Papanikolaou 4, Mantzaris, Roberts 10 (5reb, 1 3p, 3as), Bogris 6 (3reb), Thompson 6 (1).
Red Star (Alibijevic):  Keselj 3 (1), Radisevic 5, Dagubic 3 (1), Lazarevic, Feldein 7 (1), Jankovic, Antic, Rochestie 3, Lessort 14, Bjelica 16.

THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: “It was a good first test against a Euroleague team, I think we were quite good in the defensive part, we need to improve our offensive game, we need to learn to play together, we took a lot of open shots, but shot very badly from the 3 point line and we need to get better. We have a lot of room for improvement, we have many more players that can create, we are not going to be one-dimensional. It's good that we have a deep roster, we have 15 players and I count on them all. It's important that they understand they need to be 100% ready at all times and understand their role for the good of the team, because the team is above everyone else".

BRIAN ROBERTS: «I'm excited to be here. I suffered a minor injury, but I'm back and it's really to be good to be on the floor with my team mates. We have a good team that belongs with the elite and we can play fast on the open court. On my turn, I try to help my team passing the ball quickly in the transition. It's good to be back in Europe. This was a very good test for us and need to continue».

SEMIFINALS  (FRIDAY, 22/9/2017)
MACCABI TEL AVIV-UNICS KAZAN 101-100
OLYMPIACOS-RED STAR 70-56
3rd PLACE FINAL (SUNDAY, 24/9/2017)
UNICS KAZAN-RED STAR
FINAL (SUNDAY, 24/9/2017)
ΟLYMPIACOS-MACCABI TEL AVIV