By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Patric Young scored 5 points in the last 21 seconds to help Olympiacos overcome a very tough PAOK 89 – 84 on the road and remain the only perfect team in the Greek Basket League.
The American center first made a three-point play after a hook shot plus a foul won to put his team ahead 86 – 84 and after a poor attack by the hosts, he made 2/2 from the line to practically seal the outcome in the Reds’ favor.
Before Young’s crucial last-second actions, Matt Lojeski was absolutely on fire finishing dropping a Greek League career-high and tying his overall best with Olympiacos‘ jersey thanks to his 28 points, while Kostas Papanikolaou added 19 plus 4 rebounds.
Keith Clanton (18 points, 6 rebounds), Darryl Bryant (14 points), Zanis Peiners (12 points) and Apollon Tsochlas (12 points) stood out for PAOK which proved to be more than a handful for Olympiacos in the second half.
While the Greek champs were leading in the majority of the game, holding even a 14-point advantage 34 – 48 near halftime, coach Markopoulos’ players punished the lackluster defense of their opponents in the pick n’ roll and took advantage of their fatigue to get more and more threatening with every passing minute.
Yet in the end, PAOK didn’t manage to finish what it started since Clanton went 0/2 from the line with his team ahead 84 – 82 and 35 seconds left and then Young closed the game appropriately for Olympiacos, keeping his team undefeated and first in the standings.
Earlier, Panathinaikos registered its 700th win in the history of the club, beating Trikala on the road (82-77). This were not easy for the Greens, Trikala trailed by three points (80-77) with 14 seconds left, but Mike James in his first game for this season in the Greek league sealed the win, having in total 17 points.
PAO is still second in the standings with a 10-1 record, AEK is third (9-2) and Aris fourth (7-4), while Rethimno and Kolossos are tied at 6-5.
Greek Basket League 2016-17 – Week 11
Lavrio – Kolossos Rhodes 65-67 (Juvonte Reddic 24)
Kimi – Promitheas 77-66 (Stavros Tountziarakis 17 p. )
AEK – Doxa Lefkada 84-60 (Dusan Sakota 16 p.)
Rethimnon Cretan Kings – Koroivos Amaliada 101-70 (Andreas Christodoulou 20 p.)
Apollon Patras – Aris 64-79 (Tadija Dragicevic 17 p.)
Trikala – Panathinaikos 77 – 82 (Mike James 17 p.)
PAOK – Olympiacos 84 – 89 (Matt Lojeski 28 p.)