By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov scored a career-high 31 points as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Alba Berlin 84 – 80 on the road to capture its third straight EuroLeague win. The Reds improved to 14 – 16 to retain at least some mathematical chances for the playoffs, while Alba dropped to 11 – 19.
“We played with one very talented team that runs amazing on the court,” Vezenkov said in the post-game flash interview. The Bulgarian forward also finished with a career-high-tying 10 rebounds for (also a career-best) 41 PIR. “We played good, we controlled the game. I think we cooled down a bit in the last 3-4 minutes and that’s why we won only by four. But we are happy because we played solid and played together and got the win.”
Among Vezekov’s six out of seven 3-pointers was the the dagger from beyond the arc for the 78 – 82 with 15 seconds remaining. He then drained the win-sealing free throws for the 80 – 84. Alba had come back from down 11 with six minutes to play to approach 78 – 89 after a basket by Marcus Eriksson.
Peyton Siva led Alba overall with 14 points and seven assists. Ben Lammers had 13 points while Luke Sikma posted a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds for the “Albatrosses” that had a 42 – 37 halftime lead and was up 58 – 54 near the end of the third period before Olympiacos assumed control in the fourth quarter.
“We worked really well even though we couldn’t win,” Alba Berlin coach Aito Garcia Reneses said. “Olympiacos played well and there were players like Vezenkov who scored a lot of three-points – every time with defense.”
Kostas Sloukas posted 14 points and six assists for Olympiacos.
A product of teamwork
Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas saw his players completing the game with 20 assists and moving the ball around efficiently, something that contributed to Vezenkov’s 3-point rampage.
“Sasha [Vezenkov] is a great shooter and a very good rebounder,” Bartzokas said right after the match. “Through our ball movement, he had the opportunity to shoot some open shots and some not-so-open ones. Let’s give credit to our whole team for our creativity and our serious game in the second half. On the other hand, the last 3-4 minutes, it looks like we were killing ourselves. But in the end, we won the game and we are happy.”
“I really appreciate the win tonight,” Bartzokas mentioned in the post-game presser. “It’s always challenging to play against one of Aito’s teams. You have to be consistent and focused for 40 minutes. They play at a high pace, but we were able to control that. We did not allow their great three-point shooters to get their rhythm. They only shot 30% tonight. And we grabbed more rebounds which was also important for the victory. At the end, we missed some free throws and they turned the ball over, but we got the win, which I am really happy about.”