Α sweep and off to the finals

Olympiacos beat AEK 95-68 in the 2nd game of their semifinal series, completing a 2-0 sweep and securing a place in the Stoiximan GBL Finals, where they will be facing off Panathinaikos.

Donta Hall led the way for the European Champions, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Sasha Vezenkov (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Thomas Walkup (10 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists) also delivered at high level.

With Tyler Dorsey unavailable and Evan Fournier and Keenan Evans Jones excluded from the 6-man foreign players rotation, Olympiacos entered the second semifinal with an 11-man roster. Head coach Giorgios Bartzokas started the game with Ward as a shooting guard, alongside Walkup, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov, and Milutinov.

Although it took Olympiacos nearly 3' to get on the scoreboard, they soon found rhythm and, led by Sasha Vezenkov, built a 9-point advantage (4-13) midway through the opening quarter.

The EuroLeague MVP finished the first period just as he had started it, scoring 12 points in the quarter and helping Olympiacos establish a commanding 20-10 lead by the end of the opening ten minutes.

At the start of the second quarter, Bartzokas adjusted his lineup, introducing Morris, Larentzakis, Peters, and Hall. Donta Hall was highly effective around the basket, and Olympiacos extended its lead to 15 points (19-34) midway through following a three-pointer from Morris.

The American guard was Olympiacos' most influential player in the second quarter, contributing eight points, including two threes, as the Red & Whites headed into halftime with a 14-point advantage.

The second half began with a triple from a once again impressive Thomas Walkup, who became the second Olympiacos player to reach double figures after Vezenkov. Although the team started the half somewhat sluggishly and the game lacked overall rhythm, a brief two-minute surge was enough to stretch the lead to 24 points (37-61) with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The final 10' stretch began with Olympiacos holding a 20-point lead, allowing Bartzokas the opportunity to give playing time to all available players. Omiros Netzipoglou and Donta Hall stood out with their performances on both ends of the floor, and Olympiacos eventually closed out the game with a dominant 95-68 victory, sealing their place in the Stoiximan GBL Finals.

The quarters: 10-20, 30-44, 44-64, 68-95.