By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Tyler Dorsey scored a game-high 25 points on 8-10 shots and Kostas Sloukas posted 11 points plus 10 assists as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Bayern Munich 98 – 88 on the road to capture their fourth straight EuroLeague win.
Bayern saw its winning streak of 5-0 coming to an end. Former Olympiacos big man Augustine Rubit (18 points, five rebounds) and Vladimir Lucic (15 points, eight rebounds) stood out for the German side that was in charge in the first half but was outplayed by Olympiacos after the break.
“I got the hot hand early and stayed locked in the majority of the game,” Dorsey said. He dropped his 25 points in 25 minutes over three quarters since he didn’t step on the floor at all in the fourth period. “Credit to the guys who were on the court in the fourth quarter – they got stops, they got it done for us and they got the win tonight for us. Some nights are going to be high scoring, some are going to be low, so we just got to figure out what night it is and play it like that. It’s a good win on the road.”
Bayern was up 59 – 55 early in the third period but then Dorsey scored the first five out of 10 unanswered points by Olympiacos. The Reds never gave up their lead and closed the game strong to push back their opponents.
With the score 79 – 82 and five minutes to play, Olympiacos had an 4 – 11 run to gain double-digit advantage as the game was entering crunch time. Giannoulis Larentzakis then drained the dagger from beyond the arc to put the visiting side up 85 – 96, a lead that proved to be more than enough for his team.
Hassan Martin was a key figure of Olympiacos in the final lap of the match by scoring eight out of his season-high 14 points (6-6 from the field) in the last six minutes.
“They were better in the second half,” Bayern boss Andrea Trinchieri said. The Italian coach, who wore a “Stop the War” shirt throughout the whole game, also tipped his hat off to Dorsey. “We were very bad guarding their guards. Dorsey killed us. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers. We were short in the rotation of the guards, but this is not an excuse. We have to play better to compete with them.”
Turning the defensive switch on
Bayern’s offense was on a roll during the first half but Olympiacos shut them down after the break. This transformation on the Reds’ defense was the key to victory, according to coach Giorgos Bartzokas.
““It was a high-quality game offensively, the final score shows that,” Bartzokas said. “They had 53 points in the first half but only 35 in the second, and this was a key for the game. We had commitment on our defensive end, playing together and playing with hustle. The only thing I have a complaint about is missing some rebounds, but it’s a very important win for us against a team I respect a lot for the way they play, with help from their coaching staff.”