By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kostas Sloukas beat the overtime buzzer from the 3-point line to give Olympiacos Piraeus an 87 – 85 win over Anadolu Efes at home. It was the first victory for Olympiacos against Efes since December 2018 and after six straight losses to the Turkish side.
With eight seconds to play and Efes up 84 – 85, Sloukas got the defensive rebound after a missed layup by Vasilije Micic and carried the ball to the other end. He made a pass to Shaq McKissic at the corner but the latter handed the ball back to the Greek playmaker. Sloukas faked an attempt to dispatch Adrien Moerman’s defense and then hit the decisive triple.
Sloukas finished with a game-high 23 points while dishing out six assists. Tyler Dorsey added 19 points, including some crucial baskets in the fourth quarter and the extra period while Sasha Vezenkov finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for an Olympiacos team that was without starting guard Thomas Walkup.
Tibor Pleiss led Efes in scoring with 14 points and Vasilije Micic posted 14 points plus a career-high-tying 13 assists while commiting zero turnovers. Rodrigue Beaubois had 13 points – all of them in the second half – before he was fouled out on near the end of the fourth period.
Micic was the one to tie the game at 75 with 14 seconds to play in regulation and before Dorsey missed a game-winning attempt for three. The Serbian guard made a tough layup for the 81 – 80 and then Larkin, who hadn’t made a field goal in the 40-minute period, scored five points to put Efes up 82 – 85.
Dorsey scored for the 84 – 85 and then Sloukas delivered the game-winner.
Apart from Beaubois, Efes was also lacking Krunoslav Simon in overtime since the veteran swingman was ejected near the end of the third period after receiving a technical foul.
A combination of Olympiacos‘ aggressiveness and Efes’ inability to hit shots led to the Reds going up 26 – 19 at the end of the first period. Their opponents bounced back a bit to close halftime down 42 – 41 and the game turned to a barn burner with multiple lead changes and intensity, particularly down the stretch.
With this win, Olympiacos improved to 14 – 9 while Efes dropped to 12 – 12.