Olympiacos earn another important home win
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 25

Olympiacos boosted their EuroLeague playoff hopes on Thursday evening, defeating ASVEL 77-68 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

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The Erythrolefki, who are still hopeful of qualifying for the EuroLeague playoffs under the leadership of Giorgos Bartzokas, gained their fourth consecutive home victory in the competition by beating ASVEL with a nine-point difference in Piraeus. Olympiacos had previously beaten Bayern Munich, Baskonia and CSKA Moscow in their last three home matches on the bounce.

The second quarter was key as Olympiacos won it 23-12 to build up a solid advantage.

With 25 games in the books, Olympiacos hold 11 wins and 14 defeats, currently occupying ninth place of the regular season standings. Khimki, Fenerbahce and Olimpia Milano also possess a 11-14 record.

Sasha Vezenkov was the leading Olympiacos scorer with 15 points, while Octavious Ellis (13), Wade Baldwin (11) and Giorgos Printezis (11) also reached double figures in terms of points.

Teenage prospect Alexandros Nikolaidis, 17, grabbed six points for the home team.

Charles Kahudi was the top ASVEL scorer with 14 points. ASVEL sit in in 16th spot of the table with nine victories and 16 losses.

Next week, Olympiacos will face Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, while ASVEL travel to Russia to play against Khimki.

THE MATCH

Playing with confidence after beating CSKA in their last game, Olympiacos did initially start well, but ASVEL quickly found their feet and ended up taking the first quarter 21-20 as Kahudi nailed a three-pointer on the buzzer.

Nevertheless, understanding the importance of the game, the Greek hosts responded in the second period and promptly outscored ASVEL by 11 points to fully take the initiative. Midway through the quarter, Kostas Papanikolaou gave Olympiacos a 29-26 lead with an accurate three-point attempt, a moment which allowed the Erythrolefki to subsequently dictate the play.

Ellis caught the eye with a stunning dunk in the third quarter as Olympiacos pulled away.

In the fourth frame, ASVEL did prevent the Olympiacos advantage from increasing further, but the damage was done for the French side.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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