Bulgarian national team Alexander Vezenkov played another strong game, and Olympiacos broke its streak of three consecutive losses and defeated visiting Lyon-Villeurbanne (France) with 107:84 points (26:14, 18:20, 31:22, 32:28) in a match from the 17th round of the regular season of the Euroleague in men's basketball, BTA reported.
For the Greek team, this is the ninth victory out of 16 games played, which gives it 10th place in the provisional standings. Lyon-Villeurbanne recorded its 13th loss and remains in last place.
Vezenkov scored 17 points, adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in 29:43 minutes on the court.
The top scorer for Olympiacos was Tyler Dorsey with 22 points. Evan Fournier added 21. Shaquille Harrison scored 11 for Lyon-Villeurbanne.
On December 26, Olympiacos will visit Virtus Bologna in its next match of the tournament. Lyon-Villeurbanne hosts Anadolu Efes on December 23.
In another match, Red Star (Serbia) dramatically won its home game against Virtus Bologna (Italy) with 90:89 (23:15, 22:31, 25:24, 20:19).
The key role in the success of the team from Belgrade was played by the American with a Bulgarian passport, Cody-Miller McIntyre. He was above everyone, scoring 21 points in 31:22 minutes on the court, adding 4 rebounds and 10 assists. Jordan Nvora added 20 points. For Virtus, Carson Edwards scored 29 points.
This is the tenth victory for Red Star, and the team occupies eighth place in the standings. Virtus Bologna registered its ninth defeat of the season. On December 23, the Serbs will visit BC Paris.
The Turkish Anadolu Efes lost to the visiting BC Dubai with 76:80 (20:17, 17:13, 20:22, 19:28), Zalgiris (Lithuania) prevailed over Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) with 109:68 (28:15, 25:15, 29:18, 27:20), and Monaco prevailed over Bayern Munich (Germany) with 103:77 (18:17, 29:22, 35:16, 21:22).
In the Spanish derby, Barcelona defeated Baskonia with 134:124 after three full overtimes (17:26, 30:27, 23:22, 27:22, 9:9, 16:16, 12:2). This is the highest-scoring game in Euroleague history.
The Catalans are in second place in the standings with a 12-5 record after their fifth consecutive win, the same as Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) at the top. Baskonia is 6-11, having suffered its 17th consecutive defeat on the road.
Kevin Punter led the winners with 43 points, a new career high and a new record for most points for Barca. Tomasz Satoranski added 23 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Willy Hernangomez and Will Clyburn, who left the game due to injury, had 12 each, while Dario Brizuela scored 11. Marcus Howard was Baskonia's top scorer with 33 points. Timothée Luwavu-Cabarro had 26 points, while Mamadi Dikaite and Khalifa Diop each scored 14.
Barcelona overcame a 13-point deficit to take a 97-94 lead in the final minute of regulation. Howard sent the game into the first overtime with a three-pointer late in the game. Hernangomez hit a free throw to make it 106-106 after 45 minutes. Baskonia took a 116-107 lead shortly after, but Punter scored 13 of his team's next 15 points to send the game to a third overtime at 122-122. Satoransky, Hernangomez and Punter all contributed to a 12-0 run that ended the historic Euroleague game.