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bwin FMS Τράπεζα Πειραιώς

Written on . Posted in Games.

Lost to Villeurbanne in France

Olympiacos, missing several players, had a tough offensive night and was defeated in Lyon by Villeurbanne (81-70) for the 31st round of the Euroleague. The team now focuses on their upcoming game against Monaco on Thursday at the SEF (27/03, 20:15 CET).

With Evan Fournier leading the offense, having scored 7 of the team's first 9 points in the opening 5 minutes (9-9), but struggling with defensive transitions that allowed Villeurbanne to score easy points, as well as poor shooting, Olympiacos failed to find rhythm in attack. The Piraeus team controlled the rebounding battle but had five turnovers and low creativity. The French guard/forward and Sasha Vezenkov were the only offensive contributors for our team (14-16), which saw Moses Wright enter the game with 1:18'' left in the first quarter.

The offensive struggle continued in the second quarter, with Nigel Williams-Goss - the only pure point guard available to the team - scoring a three-pointer (19-19, 13'). However, he was charged with his second foul and had to be benched. Alec Peters ended a 7-0 run by Villeurbanne, while Evan Fournier kept leading the Olympiacos offense (28-23, 15'). Together with Tyler Dorsey and Saben Lee, they helped Olympiacos run a 6-0 partial (31-29, 16'), and the first half ended with a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Sasha Vezenkov for a +2 lead (37-39).

The third quarter began with a three-pointer from Kostas Papanikolaou (40-42, 22'), but the hosts soon took the lead, exploiting Olympiacos' poor offensive choices that created defensive imbalances (46-42, 26'). Sasha Vezenkov was the main scorer for Olympiacos, who continued to struggle offensively (52-50, 28'), playing small ball with Peters and Vezenkov in the center positions due to the absence of Nikola Milutinov. The period ended with the score at 58-52.

The final quarter began with a 7-0 run from Olympiacos, thanks to Vezenkov, Fournier, and a free throw from Tyler Dorsey (58-59, 32'). Alec Peters as a center and Saben Lee as a point-guard were effective in defense, while Fournier and Vezenkov remained the team's only offensive threats. Villeurbanne responded with a 7-0 run to take a crucial lead (72-65, 37'), and Olympiacos could not find an answer, ultimately losing 81-70.

The quarters: 14-16, 37-39, 58-52, 81-70.