Olympiacos first shuts down, then holds off Fenerbahce

Olympiacos Piraeus welcomed back a couple of familiar faces and went on to hold off visiting Fenerbahce Istanbul 71-62 on Thursday night at Peace and Friendship Stadium. The win improved Olympiacos to 10-5 and a share of the second place at the halfway point of the regular season, while Fenerbahce dropped to 9-6. Former Olympiacos players who helped the team to back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013, Kostas Sloukas and Pero Antic, were honored at center court before the game. Olympiacos pulled away early behind Khem Birch, before a series of three-pointers had the hosts up 40-21 at halftime. Olympiacos built a 23-point lead in the third quarter, but Fenerbahce rallied behind Luigi Datome and Bobby Dixon, however the Reds held on. Birch finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, 7 of which were on offense. Matt Lojeski netted 14 points, Ioannis Papapetrou had 12 and Erick Green nailed 3 of 4 shots from downtown and finished with 11 points. Jan Vesely amassed double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds for the visitors, but did not get much help until the final quarter when Datome and Dixon stepped up. Datome scored 10 points, Sloukas had 10 points and 6 assists, and Dixon finished with 9 points in defeat.

Olympiacos started strong defensively and did not allow Fenerbahce to score in the opening three minutes. Sloukas from downtown and Antic inside gave Fenerbahce a 4-5 edge, but Birch was everywhere for Olympiacos. He grabbed 3 offensive rebounds and scored 8 points. With help from a Kostas Papanikolaou three-pointer, the hosts opened an 18-9 advantage after 10 minutes. Lojeski and Green hit three-pointers from each corner to extend the margin to 26-13 in the second stanza. Aside from one free throw each from Sloukas and Ekpe Udoh, it was Vesely as the only player who managed to score for Fenerbahce in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Vesely tallied 14 points in the first two quarters, but the hosts kept pulling away. Green hit 2 more threes, Papapetrou added one, and Vangelis Mantzaris banked in another one, extending the margin to 40-19 entering the final minute. Olympiacos led 40-21 at halftime, and the hosts continued where they left off after the break. Papapetrou and Mantzaris made triples, and Birch fought on the offensive glass, opening a 48-25 margin. Fenerbahce got it started offensively with a triple from Datome. Udoh and Sloukas scored inside, and Antic hit from the outside, but Olympiacos did not allow the lead to slip away. The Reds were up 58-40 after three quarters and in complete control. Dixon cut the margin early in the fourth. Lojeski hit a corner three to make it 63-49, but Datome answered from downtown, and Dixon’s three closed the gap to to 65-61. Dixon had a shot to cut it to 1 point, but missed an open three, before Spanoulis banked in a tough runner with 63 seconds left and Olympiacos held on.