Olympiacos advances to the final of the first-ever EuroLeague Super Cup!
Olympiacos pulled-off an incredible comeback to beat Fenerbahce 92–90 in the EuroLeague Super Cup semifinal and will play in the final of the competition on Saturday evening.
Our team’s top scorer was Evan Fournier with 19 points, while Donta Hall was the MVP with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Miller-McIntyre, Dorsey, Ward, Vezenkov and Hall, with the American big man scoring our team’s first points. Both teams started aggressively, and Olympiacos took a 4-point lead (14–10), with Tyson Ward already having scored 5 points before the 6-minute mark.
Fenerbahce, however, tightened things up during the second half of the quarter and, shooting 4-of-6 from the 3-point range, took the lead (20–25 at the end of the first quarter).
The Turkish champions were excellent at the start of the second quarter as well. Braxton Key knocked down 3 long-range shots to give Fenerbahce an 11-point lead (24–35), forcing Bartzokas to call a timeout. Olympiacos responded with Ndiaye and Joseph, but the Turkish champions continued shooting at an unbelievable rate from beyond the arc (70% through the 16th minute) and led 38–31 after a three-pointer by Melli. At the same time, Olympiacos had already committed 10 turnovers and was struggling to find rhythm offensively.
The European champions got to respond. Led by Evan Fournier, who scored 8 points in 5 minutes, Olympiacos cut the deficit again and went into halftime just 2 points down (43–45), a scoreline that was arguably flattering given the way the game had unfolded.
Fenerbahce continued its outstanding 3-point shooting at the start of the second half, reaching 10-of-15 from beyond the arc. Olympiacos, however, stayed in the game thanks to Donta Hall and his quick reactions, even taking a 3-point lead (60–57). The third quarter became a thrilling battle, with Horton-Tucker hitting two consecutive threes to put Fenerbahce back in the lead (69–62).
Those shots brought Fenerbahce’s three-point tally to 13-of-20 for the game, while Olympiacos soon reached 16 turnovers against just 12 assists, far from its best performance. The European champions conceded 32 points in the third quarter, and Fenerbahce took a 9-point lead (78–69) into the final period.
With 7 minutes remaining, the Turkish champions appeared ready to seal the victory. But Olympiacos had not said its final word. The lineup of Joseph, Montero, Fournier, Ndiaye and Jones produced one of the team’s best stretches of the entire game, and our team turned the game around 3' before the final buzzer, taking a 95–90 lead.
Yet Fenerbahce’s incredible shooting from the perimeter did not stop even then, and just a minute later the Turkish side had once again leveled the game at 90–90.
Evan Fournier scored the crucial basket, and our team came up with the final defensive stop to secure its place in the final of the competition!
The quarters: 20–25, 43–45, 69–78, 92–90.