The Olympiacos team with the Bulgarian national team Alexander Vezenkov won 84-83 (19-19, 22-21, 23-20, 20-23) against Olimpia Milano as a guest in an extremely dramatic match of the 18th round of the Euroleague, sportal.bg reported.
The Greek giant has 12 wins and 7 losses in its account, while the Italian team has a balance of 9 wins and 9 losses since the beginning of the season.
As expected, Vezenkov was included in the starting five of his team, where he was in the company of Thomas Walkup, Mustafa Fall, Evan Fournier and Kostas Papanikolaou.
The Bulgarian national team Alexander Vezenkov won the prize for most valuable player in the match.
In 32:35 minutes on the court, he scored 21 points and 4 blocks, for a coefficient of useful action of 21
FIRST PART
After a little more than 2 minutes of play, both teams scored two points each, and then the Italians took a 5-2 lead. Vezenkov scored 5 points, but the hosts led 13-9, with a little more than 4 minutes left in the half. The Bulgarian basketball star scored two more points to reduce his team's deficit to 2 points (11-13). Mustafa Fal tied the score (13-13), but Olympia quickly took the lead again with 15-13. 2 minutes before the end, a new tie was reached (15-15), after Evan Fournier was fouled and scored two of the three free throws. Mirotic returned the advantage to the team from Milan (17-15). Seconds before the end, a basket by Vezenkov brought Olympiacos ahead in the score (19-17). After 10 minutes of play, the score was 19-19.
SECOND PART
The Olympia team led 26-19 after a little more than a minute of play in this part. An excellent series by Vezenkov reduced Olympiacos's deficit to 4 (26-30), and he already had 16 points in his account. Papanikolaou reduced his team's deficit to 2, but Olympia again led 32-28. 5 minutes before the break, the hosts led 35-30. Several referee decisions "raised the temperature" in the hall, with Giorgos Bartsokas even bringing a technical foul to challenge. Olympiacos was trailing by 4 points (34-38) with 1:31 left in the break. The difference increased to 6. Luca Vildosa scored a three-pointer to reduce the Greeks' deficit to 1 point (39-40), and ultimately at the break the two teams retired with a score of 41-40 in favor of Olympiacos.
THIRD PART
Immediately after the resumption of play, Vezenkov increased the gap to 3 (43-40), but the hosts quickly reduced their deficit to only one point. The trickery between the two teams continued. Shavon Shields gave Olympia a 3-point lead after nearly 4 minutes of play. Vezenkov's three-pointer returned the lead to Olympiacos at 53-51. And with his 21st point in this game, he crossed the 2500-point mark in the Euroleague. The hosts quickly tied the score (53-53). Giorgos Bartsokas' basketball players took the lead with 58-56. A new tie was reached (58-58), with a little more than a minute left in the half. Evan Fournier, however, gave Olympiacos a 6-point lead (64-58), but after the final quarter the Greek giants entered with a 4-point lead (64-60).
LAST PART
After a minute and a half of play, the Italians reduced their deficit to only 1 point (63-64). The hosts again took the lead in the score (66-65), but briefly. Olympiacos regained the lead (67-66), with about 6 minutes left in the game. Vildosa hit a three-pointer to extend his team's lead to 4 points (70-66). The Italians hit a life-saving three-pointer to cut the deficit to 3 points (71-74) with 3:19 left in the game. Fournier calmed the nerves by increasing the lead to 6 points, but it quickly fell to 3.
Peters hit a three-pointer to increase it to 6 again. With 38 seconds left, the lead fell to just one point in favor of Olympiacos (84-43), after 5 consecutive points by Olimpia Milano. Heart-pounding moments followed at the end, but a mistake by the hosts did not give them a chance to turn the score in their favor and the guests from Greece took the victory.
Evan Fournier scored 18 points for Olympiacos, Alec Peters scored 14, and Mustafa Fall added 11.
For Olimpia Milano, Nikola Mirotic was the most productive with 16 points.