By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Isaiah Canaan scored nine straight points in the last two minutes of overtime and finished with 26 on 5-7 triples as Olympiacos closed the EuroLeague regular season with a 84 – 81 win over Fenerbahce Beko. The Reds, who finished fifth, will face Barcelona in the playoffs while the sixth-placed Turkish side will play against AS Monaco.
With Fener up 73 – 78 and 1:56 remaining in the extra period, Canaan went off for nine unanswered points to put his team up 80 – 78. He then stole the ball and made two free throws that all but decided the outcome.
Scottie Wilbekin hit a triple with 1.1 second left but Thomas Walkup hit 2-2 from the line on the other end.
“It is all about momentum. The team picking up momentum in the second round, toward the end of the season. It is going to take everybody to get to our goal,” Canaan recapped the team effort to finish fifth in the 2023-24 Regular Season.
Shaq McKissic was the only other Olympiacos player in double figures. “I feel like we have a lot of room for improvement. I know there is another level that I can take my game too,” said the 33-year-old guard after a 12-point outing.
The hosts welcomed Nikola Milutinov back after almost three months with the Serbian center tallying five points and three rebounds over five minutes.
Nigel Hayes-Davis stood out from Fener with 21 points. Wilbekin added 12.
“It is not easy over here. We had the game under control. We did not finish the job,” reacted losing head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.
“It was a very tough game, representing what EuroLeague is,” head coach Giorgos Bartzokas attached the nail-biter to the level across Europe’s premier club continental competition, “We ended our Regular Season with a win in our home court. I am grateful to our fans for their support the whole season.”