An important win over Armani Olimpia Milan

Despite being without several key players, Olympiacos completed a 2-0 record in the EuroLeague double game week, defeating Armani Milan 84-78 and improving its record to 7-2.

Olympiacos, who played without Jean Montero, who underwent meniscus surgery and is expected to be sidelined for the next 6 months, as well as Fournier and Dorsey, enjoyed great performances by Codi Miller-McIntyre (24 points, 4 assists), Sasha Vezenkov (23 points, 4 rebounds) and Tyson Ward (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), that secured the victory and sent our team to the top of the standings.

Before tip-off, our team's President, Panagiotis Angelopoulos, honored Alec Peters for his 4 years of service to Olympiacos. The American, who has become a true Piraeus native, was once again given a warm reception by the 'Red & Whites' supporters.

Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Miller-McIntyre, Ward, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Hall. From the very beginning,  he once again showed his quality, taking control of Olympiacos' offence. Miller-McIntyre scored 10 points in the opening quarter, while Vezenkov added another 8, helping the European champions take a 25-19 lead.

In the second quarter, Nikos Plotas made his home debut in a EuroLeague game, even getting on the scoresheet with two points, while Nikola Milutinov returned to action following his toe injury.

Kostas Papanikolaou added another solid performance, scoring 8  points, including two threes, by halftime. However, Milan saw former Olympiacos player Moses Wright deliver an impressive performance of his own, and the Italian side managed to restore parity before the break (44-44), despite Miller-McIntyre's outstanding 18-point first half.

The third quarter belonged to Sasha Vezenkov, who once again stepped up. The EuroLeague MVP scored 10 points in that time, becoming the second Olympiacos player to reach the 20-point mark, following Miller-McIntyre.

The 'Red & Whites' entered the final quarter with an 8-point advantage (69-61), and Tyson Ward immediately extended the lead to double digits with a three-pointer.

Milan, however, refused to give up. Not only did the visitors fight their way back into the game, but with 3' remaining, a three-pointer by Burnell cut the deficit to just one bucket (75-73), as they took advantage of the fatigue affecting Bartzokas' players.

At that crucial moment, Cory Joseph and Mbaye Ndiaye stepped up, helping our side secure their 7th EuroLeague victory of the season with an 84-78 score.

The quarters: 25-19, 44-44, 69-61, 84-78.