Olympiacos claim vital win in Valencia
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 18

Olympiacos kept their playoff hopes alive with a vital 93-91 away win at Valencia in the EuroLeague regular season.

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Don’t count Olympiacos out. Coming off the back of three consecutive defeats, Olympiacos finally snapped their losing streak on Friday evening, seeing off Valencia 93-91 in a hotly contested battle between two sides fighting to keep their respective playoff charges alive. Olympiacos claimed this win just hours after reports stated that Giorgos Bartzokas is set to replace Kestutis Kemzura as head coach.

Bartzokas is likely to be the boss when Olympiacos face ALBA Berlin in Piraeus on matchday 19.

Veterans Giorgos Printezis (18 points) and Kostas Papanikolaou (16 points) took a leading role for Olympiacos, while Sasha Vezenkov also impressed with 17 points. Vassilis Spanoulis, the all-time EuroLeague top scorer, tallied 10 points and eight assists.

Olympiacos dished out 23 assists in comparison to Valencia’s nine.

At the moment, Olympiacos occupy 13th place of the table with a 7-11 record, while Valencia sit in 10th spot with eight wins and 10 defeats.

THE MATCH

In the opening plays, Olympiacos made the faster start to carve out a quick six-point lead, but Valencia soon came back to equalise at 16-16.

The flow of the game largely stayed the same in the second quarter. Olympiacos, taking the initiative, did move ahead by eight points as they turned the screw, but the hosts embarked on a 5-0 run in the final minute of the frame to reduce the deficit. 

Olympiacos firmly put themselves in the box seat by claiming the third quarter 31-27. Vezenkov helped the Olympiacos cause by draining a stunning three-pointer from deep:

In the fourth quarter, Olympiacos were made to sweat as Valencia came close to forcing overtime, but the Greeks held on for dear life.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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