One more victory
Olympiacos was exquisite against Anadolu Efes, winning 83-78 and making the Rixos Cup final where they will be playing against Besiktas.
The top scorer for the European Champions was Kostas Sloukas with 15 points. Olympiacos kept complete control of the game from the start and had secured a 13 points difference from the first quarter (18-31).
The Piraeus team played a marvelous offense, the ball was moving around well and with enough speed, Petway, Sloukas, Law and Papapetrou had a good night and thus Olympiacos was leading by 18 points at half-time (32-50).
In the third quarter fatigue took its toll on the players of Giorgos Bartzokas but Olympiacos still did not lose control of the game. Efes closed in 55-63 at the end of the third quarter.
Sloukas and Printezis continued with their good performances into the last quarter as well as Law and together with Simmons and Dunston who did a good job defensively the “reds” reached an 83-78 victory.
The quarters: 18-31, 32-50, 55-63, 78-83
Αnadolu Efes (Mahmuti): Balbay 3, Οsman 7 (1), Vasileiadis 6, Batuk 2, Erden 10, Savanovic 16 (2), Gordon 4, Hopson 16 (2), Planinic 8 (10as), Barac 6.
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 8 (2), Law 9 (1 3p., 6as.), Dunston 8, Perperoglou 8 (2), Papapetrou 9 (1), Sloukas 15 (1), Simmons 6, Printezis 13, Mantzaris 5 (1), Christodoulou, Lodjeski 2.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “We have had a very good first half, but we had expected Anadolu’s reaction. They are a team with experienced players. It’s only logical that no team can play well for forty minutes at this time in the season. Every two weeks coaches incorporate new players in the roster, which only naturally results in different levels of readiness. It was a good victory. Sloukas and Mantzaris have won two Euroleague titles each at 22. Vangelis has had a very serious injury last season. He has worked hard and I’m sure he will return at this level. I believe in them both a lot”.
BRYANT DUNSTON: “We started out very well, but we did not take into consideration the fact that Efes is a very good team and would make a comeback. We have had some problems in rebounding and some other areas that we need to fix tomorrow”.