By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov posted 22 points, seven rebounds plus four steals and Moustapha Fall had 17 points plus nine boards as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Panathinaikos Athens 68 – 66 in the Greek League “Derby of the Eternal Rivals” clash. This was the ninth straight win for the Reds over their archrivals through all competitions and a result that puts them at 9-0 this season in Greece.
The game was very close for the entire second half up to the very last moments. Fall pulled off a big 3-point play for the 65 – 59 with 57 seconds remaining but Dwayne Bacon made an acrobatic layup and Paris Lee quickly stole the ball and scored the basket to put Panathinaikos at a shooting distance again.
Vezenkov made a pair of free throws and then Bacon hit a very tough 3-pointer for the 67 – 66 with the help of the backboard while five seconds were left on the game clock. After Alec Peters went 1-2 from the line, Bacon tried to score the game-winner at the buzzer but was off target. The Greens dropped to 7-2 in the Greek League.
Bacon finished with a team-high 20 points on 9-19 shots while grabbing five rebounds. He had 13 of his points in the first half to help Panathinaikos come back from down 24 – 14 and take a 29 – 36 lead with two minutes remaining for the break. The hosts cut that deficit to 35 – 38 at halftime and took the advantage again in the third quarter, only for the rest of the match to remain a tight affair.
Thomas Walkup had all of his eight points in the second half for Olympiacos to provide a threat from long range apart from very strong defense, while his team suffered to score from afar (7-26 triples). Isaiah Canaan also scored eight, all of them in the first quarter.
Lee had 13 points while Nate Wolters scored 13 points and got seven rebounds for Panathinaikos. Their team won the rebounding battle 40 – 31 and scored the ball slightly better (42 percent against 39 percent from the field) but committed 17 turnovers against the hosts’ 10.
After the game Panathinaikos issued a press release complaining about the referees and asking from Greek federation president Vaggelis Liolios to intervene.