Sasha Vezenkov led the Reds with 21 points
Olympiacos outlasts ASVEL, 94-92
Olympiacos Piraeus extended its winning streak to four games by edging LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 94-92 on Tuesday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. The hosts were trailing for most of the game, but managed to mow down ASVEL in the last 3 minutes of the game. With the win, Olympiacos improved its record to 6-3. Despite its huge effort in Piraeus, ASVEL fell to 2-7.
Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 21 points and Evan Fournier netted 20. Nikola Milutinov chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds for a team-high PIR of 26.
An extraordinary Theo Maledon led all scorers with a career-high 31 points, with Joffrey Lauvergne and Shaquille Harrison netting 16 and 15 points, respectively. Mbaye Ndiaye recorded 11 points and David Lighty added 10 in a losing effort.
Game Videos
Fournier and Vezenkov netted from inside, but Lighty scored ASVEL’s first 5 points of the game and Maledon nailed two straight triples for a 6-11 lead. Fournier’s triple was followed by Maledon’s layup. Kostas Papanikolaou drilled a corner three to bring Olympiacos within 12-13. Baskets from Lauvergne sandwiched a Milutinov bucket, as ASVEL extended its lead to 14-19. The visitors fired on all cylinders, with Maledon and Ndiaye drilling back-to-back triples for a 16-25 cushion. Then, Harrison and Tarik Black netted in the paint to open an 18-29 margin. Moses Wright and Thomas Walkup made 3 free throws each, cutting the difference to 24-29 after 10 minutes.
Alec Peters opened the second quarter with a triple, but Maledon responded with a layup to make it 27-31. Harrison and Peters traded baskets before Charles Kahudi nailed a high-flying layup to maintain a 29-35 lead. Lauvergne completed a three-point play and then nailed a triple, with an Ndiaye slam giving ASVEL a 31-43 cushion. Yet, Olympiacos reacted, as 4 points from Milutinov and 2 triples from Luca Vildoza brought the hosts within 41-43. Yet, a Harrison dunk off a steal was followed by a triple from Ndiaye for a 42-50 lead at the break.
Moustapha Fall netted Olympiacos’s first 7 points of the third quarter to bring the hosts within 49-54. ASVEL responded with Lighty scoring 5 points and Harrison nailing a layup that extended the visitors’ lead to 49-61. Vezenkov took over with a triple and two buckets from inside to bring Olympiacos within 58-63. Maledon and Fournier exchanged triples before Vezenkov completed a three-point play to trim the deficit to 65-67. Then, Harrison and Kahudi netted inside, but a deep triple from Fournier cut the difference to 71-73 heading into the closing quarter.
Fournier and Kahudi exchanged buckets before Milutinov made 2 from the line to bring Olympiacos within 75-76. But Maledon was cooking, as he netted a triple before completing a three-point play for a 77-82 lead. Fournier and Lauvergne then traded baskets from inside before a corner triple from Walkup and a Vezenkov bucket tied it at 84-84. Lauvergne dunked off a pick-and-roll play, but Walkup netted a big three and Fournier scored a long two-pointer to give Olympiacos an 89-86 cushion with 1:40 left on the clock. After Nigel Williams-Goss nailed 2 free throws, a triple from Ndiaye made it 92-89 with 0:47 remaining. Fournier made a couple of free throws before Maledon went 3-for-3 from the line, but it wasn’t enough for ASVEL to stun Olympiacos.