Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade left Peace and Friendship Stadium with a big road win, 72-76, over Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday night. The visitors built a 10-point margin in the first quarter, but most of it evaporated before the break and the lead was 36-37 at halftime. A 3-13 run early in the third quarter granted Zvezda a 42-50 advantage that was reduced to 67-68 late in the fourth, but Olympiacos’s rally came up short as Ognjen Dobric capped a 0-6 spark with a dunk entering the last minute.
Zvezda hands Olympiacos first home loss, 72-76
The Serbian guard was Zvezda’s top scorer with 14 points, followed by Nikola Kalinic, who provided 12. The result snapped a three-game losing streak for Zvezda, which improved to 8-12. Sasha Vezenkov posted 20 points and 8 rebounds, while Kostas Sloukas scored 18 points for Olympiacos, which dropped to 12-8 after losing its first home game this season and third in a row overall.
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Nate Wolters had a floater and a three-pointer in a 0-7 run that gave the visitors their first edge, 2-7. The Reds remained patient in offense and got some momentum through Vezenkov and Tyler Dorsey, but Zvezda found a weapon in Dobric, who contributed 7 points in a row to keep the guests in charge, 10-14. Things got worse for the hosts when Ognjen Kuzmic followed with a couple of free throws, Nikola Ivanovic hit a jumper, and Maik Zirbes provided an inside layup to build a double-digit lead, 10-20. Olympiacos reacted right after Sloukas stepped on the court. He first hit a three then fed Vezenkov for another bomb that fueled an 11-0 run to put his team up 21-20. Stefan Lazarevic, with a bucket off an offensive rebound, closed the first quarter at 21-22.
Vezenkov and Hassan Martin thanked Sloukas and Thomas Walkup for consecutive dishes by combining for 5 points that made it 26-22. Zvezda didn’t panic and increased its defensive effort, holding Olympiacos scoreless for 4 minutes and getting back on top, 26-29, behind a triple by Kalinic. Quincy Acy scored from deep to make it all square, 31-31, starting an exciting blow-exchanging period. Lazarevic and Aaron White seemed to boost the visitors for good, but a three-point play by Sloukas made it 36-37 at halftime.
Giannoulis Larentzakis and Dobric traded three-pointers right after the intermission to keep a tight score. Kuzmic then added a couple of free throws and Wolters finished a fastbreak with an uncontested layup to push Zvezda. Even though Vezenkov showed up from deep, the visitors kept exploiting Olympiacos turnovers to extend the margin to 42-50 halfway through the third quarter. Despite rotations and a timeout, the Reds struggled to match Zvezda’s physicality until Moustapha Fall took over inside. He had consecutive dunks inside to bring Olympiacos within 52-53, although a timely triple by Kalinic allowed Zvezda to stay ahead, 52-56, entering the last period.
Luka Mitrovic opened fire after the break, as the Reds needed a couple of minutes to score their first basket. Dobric showed up from behind the arc to grant the visitors a 54-61 margin. The Reds kept struggling on offense, and even though Sloukas came up with a free throw and a floater, the visitors managed to stay calm when Kalinic replied with a turnaround jumper and Ivanovic stole a ball that made it 57-65 with 5 minutes remaining. Larentzakis and Sloukas tried to rescue Olympiacos with back-to-back three-point plays, right before Vezenkov put the game on the line, 65-66, with a floater. Kalinic and Fall exchanged baskets, as White added a baseline hook shot and Mitrovic beat Fall in the paint to get Zvezda to a 67-72 edge entering crunch time. The final decision came when Dobric took advantage of an uncontrolled rebound on Zvezda’s board to find a fastbreak dunk that finally buried Olympiacos with less than a minute to go.