Succumbed in Tel-Aviv
Olympiacos fought hard till the end, however, did not succeed in maintaining his undefeated European road record. The team lost in Tel-Aviv to Maccabi 84-90, for the 9th Euroleague round.
The ‘red & whites’ tried to impose the tempo and with Papanikolaou and Vezenkov in leadership roles, they got to lead 15-8 96’). The hosts – who were mainly scoring with Baldwin and Hollis – succeeded to get ahead for the first time at the end of the 1st quarter (22-20), mainly thanks to their good three-point percentages.
Peters at first and then Sloukas offered Olympiacos solutions from the perimeter and helped the team regain the lead (34-38 at 16’). Maccabi, that won the rebounds battle big in the second quarter (13-3), once again got in the driver’s seat (43-42), only temporarily though, since Sasha Vezenkov with a three made the score 43-45, marking the end of the first half.
Moustapha Fall’s performance changed the defence level of Olympiacos and together with the offensive prowess of Vezenkov and Papanikolaou, our team succeeded in building a +11 difference (53-64 at 28’). They were not able to hold on to it though… The hosts took advantage of their superiority in rebounding and of the bad choices the ‘red & whites’ were making in the offense and turned the game around (73-71, at 34’). With a three by Larentzakis our team once again got ahead (73-74), but relying on its tough defence, Maccabi replied with a 7-0 streak (80-74). Once again it was Larentzakis that scored a three which revamped Olympiacos’ hopes in a victory (80-77 at 38’), but our players seemed to lack the energy needed to make a complete come-back.
The quarters: 22-20, 43-45, 63-69, 90-84.
MACCABI
OLYMPIACOS
