End of year win over Lavrio

Olympiacos concluded the 2024 calendar year with a home win over Lavrio (87-77), for the 12th day of the Basket league.

With Sasha Vezenkov and Moustapha Fall leading the offense, our team began the game against Lavrio running a quick 8-0 (12-4, 4'). Alec Peters and Tyler Dorsey took the scoring baton later on (18-11, 8'), with the guests remaining competitive, taking advantage of the lax 'red & white' defense (23-19). In the second quarter, our team played with an extended rotation, also debuting Nathan Mensah. The center from Ghana scored his first bucket following an assist by Giannoulis Larentzakis to make the 29-27 scor e(13'). Lack of intensity in defense though, allowed Lavrio to run a partial 9-0 and take the lead (35-41, 17'). Our team responded with a partial 6-0 of its own after three back-to-back buckets by Mensah (42-43, 39'), with half-time ending following score by captain Kostas Papanikolaou (46-45).

In the third quarter, our team had a different defensive approach - received only one bucket during the first five minutes - when at the same time found rhythm running a quick 9-0 that gave us a substantial lead (55-45, 23'). Olympiacos completely controlled the quarter (62-48, 25'), with Moustapha Fall not facing any real challenges in the post and Sasha Vezenkov leading the offense (66-51, 28'), up until the end of the quarter (71-59). Three off target shots marked the beginning of the fourth quarter for our team, while Mensah was the first one to score for us at that time. (73-62, 32'). The guests tried to respond with threes (73-68, 35'), with a dunk by Mensah in the transition (75-68 and a 3-pointer by Larentzakis a little later to give a six point lead for our team (78-72, 38'). Lavrio continued striking from the perimeter remaining close to the score (79-75, 38'), but our team controlled the game with Sasha Vezenikov and Moustapha Fall heading the offeense, reaching the final 87-77 win.

The quarters: 23-19, 46-45, 71-59, 87-77