By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The homecourt advantage in the series of Olympiacos and Anadolu Efes changed hands with the Turkish team making the 1 – 1 after beating their opponents 73 – 71 in Piraeus.
Alex Kirk (6 points, 4 rebounds) hit the game-winning bucket for the Turkish squad. Olympiacos had two opportunities in order to tie or possibly win the game, but Kostas Papanikolaou’s, at first and then Erick Green’s 3-point attempt from way downtown went off target.
Before Kirk’s game winner, Bryant Dunston (16 points, 5 assists) and Tyler Honeycutt (15 points, 9 rebounds) created all sorts of trouble to their opponents’ defense.
For Olympiacos, the efforts of Vassilis Spanoulis – 20 points, 15 in the first half, plus 6 assists and tying his personal best of 6 made threes – and Giorgos Printezis (20 points) weren’t enough.
Although momentum was at the hands of the hosts in the mid of the fourth period, Efes manage to come back from a seven-point deficit, 65 – 58, and get ahead 66 – 67 thanks to a dunk by Derrick Brown.
Printezis gave his team the lead, 71 – 69 with 1:34 left but these were the last points Oly scored in the match. Jayson Granger tied the score and then Kirk made the decisive bucket.