By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kostas Sloukas produced 16 out of his team-high 23 points in the final period while dishing out 11 assists overall as Olympiacos Piraeus beat AEK Athens 80 – 74 on the road after a comeback from down 16.
Sloukas hit back-to-back triples for the 58 – 56 and, dished out an assist to Hassan Martin with the latter tying the game and then drained a go-ahead 3-pointer for the 58 – 61. AEK reclaimed the lead but Sloukas answered again for a 3-point play that made it 65 – 66 and the Reds didn’t lose a lead for the rest of the match.
Quincy Acy and Sloukas combined for a new pair of triples that put Olympiacos up 65 – 73 with 1:39 to play. Colom made it 70 – 75 but Giannoulis Larentzakis and Thomas Walkup kept the visiting side safe with free throws.
AEK was up 55 – 39 late in the third quarter and held a 58 – 50 advantage entering the fourth period courtesy of Andy Rautins’ 23 points and seven triples throughout the first 30 minutes. The veteran shooting guard had his best game in his return to action after retirement but went silent, as did his team in general, down the stretch.
Martin finished with 15 points on 7-7 shots and Giannoulis Larentzakis scored 13 for Olympiacos. Their team is now 11-1, the only team with one loss in the Greek League together with Panathinaikos Athens.
Ian Hummer contributed 16 points to AEK that is now 6 – 7.
Olympiacos came to this game with the absences of Sasha Vezenkov, Kostas Papanikolaou, Shaq McKissic and Giorgos Printezis. In the meantime, AEK was without Nikos Pappas and Braian Angola while head coach Stefanos Dedas was absent after being tested positive for coronavirus. Assistant Vangelis Tsepelis took over head coaching duties.
Meanwhile, Panathinaikos improved to 10-1 with a 103-83 home win against Aris. Nemanja Nedovic banked in 28 points while Jeremy Evans scored 17 and Okaro White 16 points.
For Aris, Olivier Hanlan scored 25 in addition to James Kelly’s 15 and Shakur Juiston’s 14 points. They stay out of the playoff zone with a 5-7 record.
Results
Kolossos – Larisa 93-75
AEK – Olympiacos 74-80
Promithesa – Peristeri 82-77
Lavrio – PAOK 59-61
Ionikos – Apollon 82-96
Panathinaikos – Aris 103-83