By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov posted game-highs 23 points and eight rebounds in 20:00 as Olympiacos Piraeus crushed a shorthanded Aris Thessaloniki 97 – 73 at home to take a 1-0 lead in the Greek League quarterfinals best-of-three series.
Giannoulis Larentzakis provided 17 points (in less than 17 minutes), Tarik Black scored 11 and Kostas Sloukas had 10 points plus eight assists for an Olympiacos team that was vastly superior from start to finish. The Reds took a 28-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. They finished with 34 assists and more than half of their points (49 points) came from bench players as only Sloukas played for more than 20:00.
JD Notae (15 points) and Vassilis Kavvadas (14 points) scored in double figures from Aris. The Thessaloniki side was without Ismael Sanongo (was in the 12-man squad but didn’t play), Stavros Schizas and Vassilis Christidis while Josh Haggins and Noah Horchler traveled to Piraeus after missing practices.
Game 2 will be hosted by Aris Saturday (22/4).