The Reds came out victorious from a highly entertaining exchange of blows
Olympiacos wins overtime thriller at Baskonia, 101-102
Olympiacos Piraeus extended its winning streak to six games by defeating Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 101-102 in overtime on Tuesday night. In a highly entertaining duel, the two teams exchanged blows throughout the 45 minutes, with the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leaders winning the thriller at Buesa Arena. The Reds opened the double-round week with a victory and improved their record to 15-7, with Baskonia dropping to 8-13.
Shaquielle McKissic and Evan Fournier paced Olympiacos with 22 points each, with Nigel Williams-Goss and Sasha Vezenkov scoring 19 apiece. Moustapha Fall chipped in with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
For Baskonia, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot led all scorers with 25 points, 21 of which came in the second half and overtime. Luka Samanic recorded a second-high 17 points and Nikos Rogkavopoulos scored 14, with Trent Forrest and Chima Moneke recording 11 and 10 points, respectively. Donta Hall registered a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
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Fall opened the first quarter with two straight slams, but a triple from Moneke was followed by baskets from Khalifa Diop and Kamar Baldwin for a 7-4 lead. Olympiacos responded with a 0-7 run fueled by Fournier and Vezenkov, who made it 7-11 in transition. Moneke dunked on the break before 2 free throws by Ognjen Jaramaz tied it up. Fournier’s second triple of the night was sandwiched by two put-back dunks by Donta Hall, who gave Baskonia a 17-16 edge after 10 minutes.
McKissic took over in the second half with 5 straight points, but triples from Rogkavopoulos and Samanic allowed Baskonia to maintain a 25-24 lead. A coast-to-coast layup by McKissic was followed by a dunk from Luwawu-Cabarrot in transition before a Fournier three put Olympiacos back in front, 30-31. Yet, Samanic drilled his second triple of the night and Hall scored a layup to restore a 35-33 lead for the hosts. Luwawu-Cabarrot, Trent Forrest and Baldwin scored inside, but McKissic netted on the break to bring Olympiacos within 42-40 at halftime.
Luwawu-Cabarrot opened the second half with a three-point play and back-to-back triples for a 51-44 lead. Vezenkov and Moneke traded triples before another three by Luwawu-Cabarrot extended Baskonia’s lead to 57-47. A dunk from Fall was followed by 4 points from Williams-Goss, but Luwawu-Cabarrot netted yet another triple and Forrest completed a three-point play to restore a 65-55 cushion. McKissic made 2 of 2 from the line and Fournier scored a floater, but a four-point play from Rogkavopoulos made it 69-59. Olympiacos responded with a 0-8 run to close the third period, slashing the deficit to 69-67 heading into the fourth.
Samanic took over in the closing quarter with 9 points to restore an 81-75 lead. Fournier nailed one from downtown, but a buzzer-beating jumper from Luwawu-Cabarrot and a Samanic bucket maintained an 85-78 cushion. Vezenkov scored inside before a Fournier triple cut the difference to 85-83. Hall dunked off an alley-oop dish, but buckets from Fall and McKissic tied it at 87-87 with 0:37 left on the clock. Forrest made 2 of 2 from the charity stripe, but Fall scored inside to make it 89-89 with 0:11 remaining. Moneke missed a jumper to call game and the duel went to overtime.
Williams-Goss and Moneke traded scores inside before a step-back triple from McKissic put Olympiacos ahead, 93-95. Then, Williams-Goss and Baldwin exchanged buckets, with Fournier and Hall scoring a couple of free throws each to make it 99-99 with 0:45 to go. But Williams-Goss went all the way with a coast-to-coast layup and then made 1 of 2 from the line to seal the outcome.