Olympiacos had a difficult mission in Nea Smyrni, but found the solutions in the end and defeated Panionios 79-71 for the 21st day of the GBL.
However, the experience of the ‘reds’ in the last minutes made the difference, with Giorgos Bartzokas’ team finding crucial baskets and locking the victory.
The game was marked by tension in the second quarter, when Evan Fournier had a heated incident with a Panionios fan in the stands. The French guard moved towards the stands visibly upset, with his teammates restraining him before the referees disqualified him with a disqualification while the fan was removed from the court.
On the competitive side, Olympiacos had the lead early and closed the first quarter at +8 (23-15), but Panionios reacted afterwards, cutting the lead to 39-35 at halftime and keeping the pressure on until the end, before the Piraeus team finally imposed their pace in the final stretch of the game.
Sasha Vezenkov led the way for Olympiacos with 24 points and 8 rebounds, with significant help from Tyrick Jones (11pts). On the Panionios side, Joe Thomason stood out with 21 points, with Giorgos Tsalbouris adding 12.
Timing: 15-23, 35-39, 54-58, 71-79
Referees: Tziopanos-Maglogiannis-Milapidis (Hapiotis)
The compositions:
PANIONIOS (Markovic): Watson 9, Lemon 9, Thomason 21 (2), Kruiser 4, Gikas 3 (1), Taylor, Chalbouris 12 (3), Lewis 7, Giktikas, Nicolaides 6
OΛYMPIAKOS (Bartzokas): Walkup 4 (1), Ward 8, Vezenkov 24 (1), Dorsey 5 (1), Jones 11, Larenzakis 9 (3), Morris, Papanikolaou 1, Netzipoglou, Peters 6, Hall 5, Fournier 6 (1)
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