By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With six players scoring in double figures, CSKA Moscow captured its sixth victory in a row in EuroLeague by beating Olympiacos 97 – 81 in Piraeus. This result also extended the struggles of the Reds that suffered their fifth consecutive loss.
It was a former two-time EuroLeague champion with Olympiacos that propelled CSKA’s efforts during what was proven to be a game-winning stretch, spanning from the end of the third quarter to the mid of the fourth. With the score 63 – 63, Kyle Hines scored 11 points out of his 15 points in seven minutes and put on some some major defensive plays as the “Army Men” made it 70 – 82, four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Olympiacos, that faced numerous defensive issues that were multiplying the more the game progressed, absolutely collapsed while CSKA completed a 0 – 9 run that gave them a 19-point lead, 70 – 89 with Cory Higgins (team-high 18 points) putting his signature. With 4:12 remaining, there was no turning back.
“The fact that we kept Olympiacos low in the last two quarters, and the productivity was really different than in the first half when we allowed 50 points, it was a boost, the right trigger for us in order to turn around the game”, said CSKA’s coach Dimitris Itoudis.
The Reds were up 60 – 58 in the mid of the third period but everything went downhill from there. Zach LeDay (21 points, nine rebounds) and Vassilis Spanoulis (14 points, seven assists) had been one of the Greek teams’ main figures.
Nando De Colo also scored 16 points and Will Clyburn posted 15 points and eight rebounds for CSKA. Sergio Rodriguez notched a double-double of 15 points and 12 assists. He was the one to set the one for CSKA early, having scored or initiated through passes the first 17 points of the Russian squad.
“There were some positives for us”, said Olympiacos coach David Blatt. “At times we showed improvement offensively. Defensively we were pretty consistent this year, but we were not able to handle the offensive power of CSKA. It is tough time, and it is tough times like this that you’ve just got to get inside of yourself, and as a team we’ve got to find our way out of this situation. Our goal is to make the playoffs”.
CSKA improved to 19 – 5 with this win while Olympiacos dropped to 12 – 12.