By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus struggled against Peristeri for more than 30 minutes before getting a 79 – 67 win for the 1-0 lead in the Greek League quarterfinals. The Reds were visibly dealing with the aftershock of the Belgrade Final Four and trailed for the vast majority of the game prior to the fourth period.
That was when Kostas Sloukas poured 10 points out of his 20 overall points in less than seven minutes as Olympiacos took a 69 – 62 advantage with 3:32 to play. Peristeri tried to remain close but Shaq McKissic drained a triple for the 76 – 67 and Moustapha Fall dunked to put the hosts up 76 – 67 with a minute remaining to basically close the game.
Sloukas also had five assists while Sasha Vezenkov delivered 20 points of his own, along with 15 rebounds and six dimes. Terran Petteway (19 points, six rebounds) and Dimitris Moraitis (14 points) stood out from Peristeri that led even by 13 points in the first half but was unable to repel Oly’s counterattack in the final quarter.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series takes place at Peristeri Saturday (28/5).