Malaga edge Olympiacos in OT
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 29

Unicaja Malaga got the better of Olympiacos in overtime on a night that Vassilis Spanoulis etched his name in EuroLeague history…

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Unicaja Malaga pulled-off a shock upset in Spain on Friday night as the Spanish side edged Olympiacos 87-85 after a back-and-forth that also required overtime at the Jose María Martín Carpena Arena.
 
On a night when Vassilis Spanoulis set a new EuroLeague record for assists, Olympiacos failed to pull-away as a poor second quarter ultimately costly for the Piraeus giants.
 
Spanoulis led Olympiacos scorers with 15 points, but the statistic that was most talked-about at the final buzzer was the Greek guard’s 8 assists as he surpassed Dimitrios Diamantidis for the most all-time.
 
Nemanja Nedovic led all scorers on the night, however, as he tallied 17 points for Malaga, while teammate James Augustine came close to a double-double with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
 
Olympiacos started brightly in Malaga as the Erythrolefki carved out a 22-19 lead by the end of the first quarter.
 
A brutal performance in the second quarter quickly undid any of Olympiacos’ good work from the first frame as Malaga cruised to a 28-11 run in the second frame to take a 47-33 lead into halftime.
 
Olympiacos went on a run of their own in the third quarter as Yiannis Sfairopoulos’ men posted a 23-7 stretch in the third frame to take a slim lead (56-54) heading into the fourth quarter.
 
A tight final frame ultimately saw Malaga tie the game by the final buzzer, but Olympiacos would be left to rue missed shots from Spanoulis and Nikola Milutinov with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter.
 
With the game now in overtime, Ioannis Papapetrou put Olympiacos in front 85-82 with about 44 seconds left in the extra frame. Malaga fought back, however, as the Spanish side first tied the game in their next possessions before Augustine gave Malaga the lead back for good with 2.5 seconds left in overtime.
 
The result sees Olympiacos fail to secure third place ahead of third place, though the Piraeus giants can secure third place and a likely playoff meeting with Zalgiris Kaunas with a win over the Lithuanian side next week.

HIGHLIGHTS: UNICAJA MALAGA - OLYMPIACOS

by Peter Katsiris

Image Source: sportfm.gr

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