Printezis propels Olympiacos past Baskonia
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 1

Olympiacos defeated Baskonia to tip-off their EuroLeague campaign with an important victory in Heraklion…

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Greek international Georgios Printezis scored a game-high 17 points as Olympiacos started their EuroLeague campaign with a 75-64 win over Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz at the Heraklion Arena.
 
With the likes of Vasilis Spanoulis and Brian Roberts ruled out through injury, Olympiacos used its Greek core of Printezis, Kostas Papanikolaou, and Dimitris Agravanis en route to dispatch the Spanish visitors.
 
A nervy start to the encounter saw Olympiacos fall behind early in the first quarter, until two clutch three-pointers to put the Piraeus giants back in front 16-12 after the first quarter.
 
A 9-4 run to open the second quarter gave Olympiacos some degree of separation at 25-16, but Baskonia would fight back through Johannes Voigtmann and Jayson Granger to keep Olympiacos in check. A late surge in the quarter fueled by Printezis and Olympiacos playmaker Janis Strelnieks ensured the Erythrolefki took a 41-33 lead into halftime.
 
Printezis continued to dominate in the second half as the Greek international converted on a couple of jump shots, before feeding Nikola Milutinov for a slam dunk that sent supporters on their feet. Despite some pushback from Baskonia, Olympiacos held on to an 11-point lead (60-49) heading into the final quarter.
 
Strong defense from Olympiacos in the final frame allowed the Piraeus club to close out the victory with their double-digit lead intact. Marcelinho Huertas did his best to get Baskonia back in the game, but the Olympiacos resistance proved too strong for a Baskonia effort that came just too late on.
 
Olympiacos are now tied for first in the early EuroLeague standings, with the likes of Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv leading the way on points differential following an 88-71 win against Brose Bamberg.
 
In other action around the league on Thursday, CSKA Moscow defeated Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan while Real Madrid handed Anadolu Efes an early reality check.
 
In Round 2 action next week, Olympiacos face another Spanish side in Unicaja Malaga while Baskonia travel to Israel to face Maccabi.

HIGHLIGHTS: OLYMPIACOS - BASKONIA

by Peter Katsiris

Image Source: SDNA.gr

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