The Greek Olympiakos, with the Bulgarian national Alexander Vezenkov in the lineup, lost to Anadolu Efes with 89:91 (23:11, 21:30, 26:24, 19:26) as a guest in Istanbul in a meeting of the fourth round of the EuroLeague for men's basketball, BTA reported.
Olympiakos suffered its second loss since the start of the season and continues with an active 2-2 record, remaining winless away from home. Anadolu Efes recorded a second win and is also now 2-2.
Alexander Vezenkov was among the top scorers for the guests from Athens and finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 30 minutes on the court.
Olympiakos basketball players started well and led by 15 points at 23:8, and after 20 minutes of play the score was 23:11. However, by the break, the home team reduced their deficit and came within only 3 points of the opponent - 41:44. An even third quarter followed, in which the visitors kept the lead, with their lead before the last 10 minutes being 70:65. In the remaining time, Anadolu Efes fought back for success, denying Olympiakos their first away win of the season. The Greek team was lagging behind in the fight under the basket and demonstrated weaker shooting from the game than the opponent.
Shane Larkin was the top scorer for the winners with 24 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, and Evan Fournier finished with 20 points for Olympiakos.
In the next round of the Air League, Vezenkov and his teammates will visit the German Bayern Munich on October 25. Prior to that, Olympiakos will be visiting Karditsa in the Greek championship on October 21.