By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus made an 18-0 run down the stretch to overcome a very competitive ASVEL Villeurbanne team at home and take the 80 – 64 win.
Thanks to this result, the Reds improved to 19 – 12 and stayed in the race for the Top 4.
On the contrary, ASVEL dropped to 7 – 24. The French side was held scoreless over six of the last 6:32 minutes of the game.
Alec Peters led Olympiacos with 17 points and six rebounds. He also had five points during his team’s run, including the triple for the 72 – 61 with 3:10 remaining. Shaq McKissic completed the streak for the home team with a triple of his own that put his squad up 77 – 61.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 14 points for ASVEL. His team had recovered from a 39 – 25 deficit in the second period to ultimately go ahead 52 – 53 in the third quarter.
De Colo put his team up 59 – 61 with 6:32 left to play but that was the last his team scored for the next six minutes as Olympiacos had several unanswered buckets to reclaim the lead and build a safe double-digit advantage.
“That was a fight”
“We dominated the court both offensively and defensively in the fourth quarter, but our third quarter was really bad. We were really nervous, missing open shots and turning the ball over. But it’s okay”, Georgios Bartzokas said. “He went to the hospital to have an MRI”, he commented on Filip Petrusev.
Pierric Poupet also talked after the defeat. “If we talk about X’s and O’s, we could have done a better job in switching defense. This is on us, the coaching staff. We could have been more solid, stayed more solid mentally, and stayed together for just another five minutes”, the French head coach addressed.
Moustapha Fall, who ended with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the win, commented on the victory. “They were playing really hard, that was a fight. I’m just glad we ended up with the victory”, he said. “I never force anything, I just take what the defense gives me”, the French center added.
He was followed by his teammate Alec Peters. “We didn’t do our job on Tuesday, this game was huge for us. We all felt it. We weren’t happy at halftime, and especially after the third quarter”, he first said. “He’s gonna come back and he’s gonna help us, whatever the situation is”, he added to the Serbian big man.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague