Another winning game

Olympiacos began the new year with a road win, beating Aris 88-77 for the 13th day of the Basket League.

Shooting poorly from the perimeter and without matching up to Aris energetic game, Olympiacos made a sluggish start in the game (6-7, 3'). The hosts got ahead running a partial 6-0 (14-8, 7') and imposed the rhythm. Our team lacked patience when in offense, also lacking energy when defending, resulting in trailing the score throughout the first quarter. Two threes by Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier shrank the 7p. lead Aris had built, with the quarter ending at 22-16. In the second quarter, improving on their defense, the 'red & whites' contained the hosts and found better solutions when attacking. Alec Peters and Giannoulis Larentzakis offered score in the first minutes of the quarter, making for a 3-point game (29-26, 12'), with Kastritis' team continuing to lead up until the pressure by the 'red & white' defense lead the hosts to consecutive turnovers and after three unanswered buckets by Sasha Vezenkov in 38'', Olympiacos got a +4 lead that also marked the end of half-time (42-46).

In the third quarter, leaning on their defense and making better decisions when attacking, Olympiacos set the tempo. The guests quickly left Aris' 6-0 behind them (47-48) and got to control the game running a partial 14-0 (47-62, 25') with many players contributing score. Kostas Papanikolaou, Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov pushed for a +17 lead to our team (51-68, 28'), with the quarter closing following a three by Vezenkov that made the score 56-71. Few things changed in the last quarter, with our team completely controlling the game and with Alec Peters spearheading the offense, the score was 59-81 at 33'. Aris tried to remain competitive taking advantage of the slowing down of the guests (75-86, 37'), but Olympiacos did not lose focus and got his first win for the Basket League in the new year (88-77).

The quarters: 22-16, 42-46, 56-71, 77-88