By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov scored 20 points and Filip Petrusev added 18 points and nine rebounds as Olympiacos Piraeus survived a tough Peristeri team 79 – 74 to advance to the Greek SuperCup Final. The Reds will face archrival Panathinaikos Athens for the first title of the 2024-25 season.
Vezenkov also hit a key floater to make it 79 – 72 with 80 seconds to play. Petrusev had dropped nine points in the fourth period to help Olympiacos take and retain a lead after trailing 53 – 61 shortly before the end of the third quarter.
Chris Coffey had 19 points for Peristeri before fouling out, with 3:18 remaining and the score at 76 – 72. Tobin Carberry added 14 points and seven assists.
Peristeri had a dominant 29 – 19 third period, assuming the advantage thanks to a 0 – 10 run for the 47 – 51. At some point, they had 9 – 9 from the field.
With the score 57 – 63, Olympiacos made a 13 – 2 run, capped by a triple by Luca Vildoza. Giorgos Bartzokas’ players remained ahead for the rest of the match.
Vezenkov: “We must do everything at 100%”
The game was a real test for Olympiacos and Sasha Vezenkov admitted that in a few hours in the Final, Olympiacos will have to perform much better.
As he said: “There’s a trophy on the line and it’s a different game that can give a moral boost. We are not judged by it, it does not determine anything, but we want to win it, especially when we play against Panathinaikos. So we will give 100% and let the best man win. It will be a game with a great team with great players. We must do everything at 100% to get the first title and beat this team.”