By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Jamel McLean scored 20 points, including some key buckets in the fourth period as Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos 92 – 76 at home to tie the Greek Finals best-of-five series 2-2.
This result forced a Game 5 that will be played at OAKA, Panathinaikos’ home arena, Sunday (17/6).
With the score 71 – 67, moments into the fourth quarter the Reds had a 5-0 run to gain a lead close to double digits. The guests reacted a bit but a key sequence of plays that came after pretty much decided the game in favor of Olympiacos.
With the score 77 – 71, McLean beat Chris Singleton in a 1 vs. 1 offense for a lay-up, followed by Brian Roberts hitting one difficult buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Panathinaikos’ bench was called with a technical foul after protesting for a traveling violation, something which brought an extra free throw plus possession that allowed the hosts another bucket, a jumper courtesy of McLean for the 85 – 71.
Panathinaikos, that had previously recovered from a 14-point deficit to transform the 50 – 36 to 57 – 55, mostly thanks to a flurry of 3-pointers by Matt Lojeski, wasn’t able to make another comeback.
Apart from McLean, Brian Roberts stepped up strong in Game 4 with 16 points, while Vassilis Spanoulis added 13 points and Giorgos Printezis followed with a double-double of 12 points plus 11 rebounds.
Mike James tapped 20 points for the Greens, scoring 12 in a row in the final minutes of the third period, while Lojeski scored 16, most of them in the second half, against his former team.
Photo credit: Eurokinissi