Olympiacos couldn’t… hold on, having played its last game eight days ago and broke out on Kolossos Rhodes at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Game 1 of the quarterfinal round of the Greek Basketball League playoffs. In their penultimate game, before the Euroleague semifinal against Fenerbahce (22/5) at the T-Center in Athens, the players of Giorgos Bartzos put on a show of strength and made it 1-0 with a dominant…. Already from 70-35 at half-time… the Rhodites had thrown in the towel, a difference built by the Piraeus team, without Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier and Doda Hall, while Corey Joseph, Shaquille McKissick and Mustafa Fall were ineligible.

The Reds, who remain undefeated in this year’s GBL, were impressive from the first half where they scored 70 points, a record for productivity in a half-hour in the league’s postseason. They also tied their own best performance, overall.

Nikola Milutinov scored 20 points with six rebounds and five assists, Giannoulis Larentzakis … gave it to him with 17 points (3/6 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists, while Tyler Dorsey “unlocked” in the second half to finish the game with 16 points (3/6 3-pointers). Walkup had set the foundation for the organization in the 1st quarter and had a combined 10 points, while Papanikolaou, Morris and Jones each scored 9 points.

For Kolossos Rhodes, Keondre Kennedy stood out with 24 points.

Before the start of the game, reds captain Kostas Papanikolaou presented the medals to the Piraeus junior team, which won the Panhellenic Championship. The young Olympiacos players had defeated Prometheus 72-65 in the final of the Final Four held in Argos-Orestiko.

The second quarterfinal will be played on Saturday (16/5, 16:15), in Rhodes.

The quarters: 35-15, 70-35, 93-55, 117-76

Olympiacos found no resistance from Kolossos Rhodes and led 15-6… extending the difference to double digits by the end of the 1st quarter. Nikola Milutinov… had a party in the paint, contributing 11 points and 3 rebounds in his 7:56 of action before giving way to Tyrick Jones. Thomas Walkup scored 8 points in 6 minutes, while Alec Peters scored 7 with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. All three of Milutinov, Walkup and Peters shot 100% from the field, two-point range and 3-point range in the 1st quarter. For Colossus, Keondre Kennedy scored 7 points and Chason Randle scored 6 in the first 10 minutes. The Piraeus team was 8/10 on two-pointers to Rhodes’ 2/6, but also had 10 assists to 2 turnovers, while the visitors had 5 assists to 7 turnovers.

Jiorgos Bartzokas left Giannoulis Larentzakis on the floor for all 10 minutes of the second quarter, who scored 12 points on 2/3 3-pointers, as well as Olympiacos captain Kostas Papanikolaou who scored 7 points. Milutinov, who returned briefly, scoring 13 points, with 5 rebounds and 3 assists, came back out to… rest, since his contribution was not needed. Morris and Nilikina contributed to the scoring, while Netzipoglou scored 4 points with 5:59 left in the 2nd quarter. Keondre Kennedy was the only Colossus double-digit scorer who saw Olympiacos… ruin him. With 20/22 2-pointers (!), 20 assists to just 2 turnovers, and 7 steals, Giorgos Bartzokas’ players showed no mercy, as seen by the 70-35 halftime score. Tyler Dorsey played 9:60 in the first half and had 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

The second half was a typical process, with Olympiacos reaching the 117-76 victory at practice pace.

Referees:Tsibouris, Theonas, Milapidis

Olympiakos (Giorgos Bartzokas): Walkap 10 (1), Ward 3 (1), Dorsey 16 (3), Peters 12 (2), MilutinoF 20, Nilikina 8 (2), Larentzakis 17 (3), Morris 9 (1), Papanikolaou 9 (1), Netzipoglou 4, Jones 9

KOLOSSOSOS RODOS (Aris Lykogiannis): Randle 6 (2), Kennedy 24 (4), Nichols 2, Galvanini 7 (1), Akin 2, Goodwin 10, Karabelas, Koloveros 10, Petropoulos 6 (2), Kalaitzakis 3 (1), Kurupakis 6