By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Shaq McKissic scored the go-ahead basket in the final seconds to push Olympiacos Piraeus towards a 75 – 73 win over AS Monaco in a very tight battle especially down the stretch. The Reds registered their fourth straight EuroLeague victory while their opponents suffered their second loss in a row.
McKissic drained the triple for the 72 – 69 with 22 seconds to play. Olympiacos fouled Elie Okobo who went 1-2 from the line and on the other end, Isaiah Canaan made both of his free throws.
It wasn’t over yet though. Mike James hit a 3-pointer of his own to put Monaco at a 74 – 73 distance with five seconds remaining. After Alec Peters made 1-2 free throws, James tried a Hail Mary shot from half-court but was way off target.
“All those hours in the weight room, rep after rep, not knowing if I could get back to normal but I started to feel myself these past weeks and I knew that I needed a break-out game to get back and I hope this can start a new streak”, said McKissic who missed all of the preseason and the start of the season due to injury, but was the hero of the night with 13 points and 3/4 threes.
Isaiah Canaan with 16 points and Alec Peters with 14 were the top scorers of Olympiacos as usual. Canaan was pivotal down the stretch, dropping 12 of his points over the last 12 minutes.
For Monaco, Mam Jaiteh with 14 was the top scorer and Mike James followed with 10 points plus seven assists. It was a season-low performance for the Monaco superstar who completed the game with 4 – 14 shots.
“A playoff game”
As Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas admitted after the final buzzer: “The tension and the physicality were equal to a playoff game. We managed to win it and it was not easy because they had 14 offensive rebounds. We demonstrated character, I have to congratulate all the players, but it’s not easy to play against Monaco, right now one of the top two, top three teams in Europe”.
On the other side, Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic went even further: “From now on, all games are going to be like playoffs and it will be a great pleasure for basketball fans”.
Speaking about the game, the Serbian added: “It’s not usual for a McKissic to score three three-pointers, so this is a small detail that maybe made a difference”.
After this result, Olympiacos is tied with Fenerbahce and Maccabi at the fourth spot of the standings with an 11-8 record, while Monaco dropped to 10-9.