2013-14Top 16Round 4
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 70
Olympiacos Piraeus 89
January 24, 2014 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

Olympiacos returns to its winning ways by romping in Vitoria

Two-time defending champ Olympiacos Piraeus used one of the best-ever scoring halves in Top 16 history en route to a 70-89 road win over Laboral Kutxa Vitoria on Friday night. Behind brilliant play of the reigning MVP Vassilis Spanoulis and hot shooting hand of Matt Lojeski, the two-time champs displayed an offensive clinic in the first half. Hitting 9 three-pointers on 13 attempts, and scoring at will, the Reds build a 38-59 halftime lead. The 59 first half points is second-most in Top 16 history only to Maccabi Electra’s 61 from last season. A 0-11 run at the start of the second put Olympiacos up 40-70, and there was no coming back for the hosts. Lojeski scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half, and Spanoulis finished with 13 points and 7 assists. Bryant Dunston scored 14, and Stratos Perperoglou chipped in with 11 in victory. Thomas Huertel had 12 points and 6 assists for Laboral, and David Jelinek also scored 12. Andres Nocioni added 11, and Ilimane Diop collected 10 points plus 7 rebounds for the hosts.

First quarter: Spanoulis takes control in an early 5-22 charge

Nocioni knocked down a three at the start of the game, but Stratos Perperoglou and Mirza Begic each scored from close range for Olympiacos. Nocioni answered driving through the crowd for a layup-plus-foul, before Heurtel pulled up for a jumper, then threw it up for Tibor Pleiss's alley-oop dunk and a 10-4 lead. After an Olympiacos timeout, Spanoulis drove for a layup, and Begic added a put-back dunk. A corner three-pointer from Lojeski helped put the Reds in front 12-13. Fabien Causeur made a steal and raced for a fastbreak layup, snapping Laboral's drought from the field, but Spanoulis drove for a layup-plus-free throw, then dished it for another Lojeski triple. Both teams pushed the ball down the floor, and the visitors had more success with it, as a breakaway triple from Spanoulis made it 14-22. Despite a timeout by Coach Sergio Scariolo, Dunston extended it to double digits with a basket from close range. Lamont Hamilton split free throws for the hosts, but Spanoulis assisted Dunston for another easy bucket and a 15-26 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter: Olympiacos opens up big margin

Spanoulis opened the second quarter with a triple, capping a 1-16 run. The hosts tried to disrupt the champ's rhythm with zone defense, while on the other end Walter Hodge was fouled behind the arc and sank all 3 free throws. But Lojeski kept Olympiacos in the double-digit margin with a put-back, before Begic made a dunk and Brent Petway buried a triple, both baskets on Spanoulis assists, for huge 18-36 advantage. Hodge made a couple more free throws for the hosts, but Lojeski hit a mid-range jumper. Pleiss scored from close range and Nocioni followed it driving the baseline for a reverse layup. Heurtel hit a jumper for a 26-40 lead, but Georgios Printezis sank a triple for the visitors. Heurtel stayed hot with back-to-back jumpers, but Lojeski hit a triple in between for a 30-46 lead midway through the second. The hosts tried to get it going on defense, applying full-court pressure, and Nocioni sank a tough triple. But the Reds kept raining threes, with Kostas Sloukas and Dimitrios Katsivelis hitting from long range to lead 33-55. Heurtel made both free throws and Ilimane Diop had a dunk for Laboral, but Printezis and Sloukas made shots for the Reds to lead 38-59 at halftime.

Third quarter: Olympiacos runs wild with 0-11 spurt

Jelinek made a pair of free throws to open the third quarter, but Dunston made a tough layup to spark another Olympiacos run. Perperoglou added a triple and a layup before Dunston capped it with a pair of dunks, one on each side of Scariolo’s timeout, for a 40-70 lead. Diop snapped a 0-11 run with a layup, and Jelinek made a pair of free throws. After Dunston made a layup for Olympiacos, Jelinek hit a three, and Huertel scored for two, helping cut it to 51-73. Mardy Collins made a triple to snap Laboral’s run, and before the quarter’s end Jelinek made another jumper for Laboral, but the visitors still held a 53-78 advantage.

Fourth quarter: Laboral closes the gap, but Olympiacos wins big

The fourth quarter started with a fastbreak layup from Collins. Giuseppe Poeta nailed a triple for Laboral, and after Sloukas drove for a reverse layup, Diop made a dunk, 58-82. The hosts cut the deficit some more with free throws from Devon Van Oostrum, and another layup form Diop. After Poeta drove for a layup and scored 2 free throws, the deficit was cut to 66-82. Perperoglou snapped a 10-0 run with couple of shots from the foul line, and after Diop scored another easy layup, Olympiacos grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds, and Perperoglou drove baseline for a layup to get the game into the final minute, before Van Oostrum’s layup, and Dunston’s jumper rounded out the scoring.

Matthew Lojeski - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB13
Friday, January 24, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: CEREBUCH, GUERRINO; JOVCIC, MILIVOJE; MARICIC,SASA
Attendance: 12743 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria15231517
Olympiacos Piraeus26331911
End of Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria15385370
Olympiacos Piraeus26597889
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MAINOLDI, LEO 21:53   0/3 0/6   2 5 7 1   1 1   2   -3
5 NOCIONI, ANDRES 18:22 11 2/4 2/4 1/2   4 4     1 1   2 3 11
6 POETA, GIUSEPPE 18:47 7 1/2 1/1 2/2 1 1 2 2 1 2   1 1 2 9
7 VAN OOSTRUM, DEVON 7:15 4 1/1 0/2 2/2   1 1           1 2 4
11 HAMILTON, LAMONT 12:55 1 0/2 0/3 1/2         1   1   2 1 -4
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 19:15 10 5/7   0/2 2 5 7       1   1 1 14
15 HODGE, WALTER 19:42 7 0/2 0/2 7/7       2         1 4 8
18 MARTINEZ, CARLOS 2:12                         2   -2
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 11:40 4 2/7     2 2 4       1 1   1 4
22 HEURTEL, THOMAS 21:13 12 5/8 0/1 2/2   2 2 6 1 1     2 4 18
25 JELINEK, DAVID 21:49 12 1/2 1/1 7/8           1     4 5 10
55 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 24:57 2 1/5     2 2 4   1 3     4 2 -2
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 70 18/43 4/20 22/27 9 23 32 11 4 10 5 2 22 25 67
        41.9% 20% 81.5%
Head coach: SCARIOLO, SERGIO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 PETWAY, BRENT 15:38 3 0/2 1/1   1   1 1       1 2    
6 DUNSTON, BRYANT 21:22 14 7/8   0/3 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 15
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 23:35 13 2/4 2/5 3/4   3 3 7   2     5 8 18
8 PERPEROGLOU, STRATOS 22:05 11 3/6 1/2 2/2   5 5   2       3 2 13
10 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 12:47 9 2/2 1/3 2/2   1 1 3         2 1 10
11 COLLINS, MARDY 10:17 5 1/4 1/1     2 2 1 1       1   5
12 SIMMONS, CEDRIC 10:00   0/1       1 1     2   1 2 1 -4
14 BEGIC, MIRZA 8:38 4 2/4       3 3   1 1 1 1 3   2
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 18:34 9 3/7 1/3   2 5 7   1       3 1 9
17 MANTZARIS, VANGELIS 21:14 1 0/1   1/2 1 4 5 3 1 1   1 3 1 4
19 KATSIVELIS, DIMITRIS 9:55 3 0/1 1/1         1             3
24 LOJESKI, MATT 25:55 17 2/2 3/5 4/6 1 5 6 1 1 2       3 22
Team           1 2 3     2         1
Totals 200:00 89 22/42 11/21 12/19 7 33 40 18 8 11 2 5 26 20 98
        52.4% 52.4% 63.2%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

SCARIOLO, SERGIO
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"We started the game very well, but unfortunately we received a big punishment at the end of the first period on a very important run by their side. Our defense against their pick-and-roll game wasn't as we wanted to do it. We gave unnecessary help and left them open for three-point shots. They were amazingly accurate tonight; they played like a Euroleague champion, showing their big talent and high class, showing great ball circulation. Spanoulis was a great executor, but not only through scoring, but also passing the ball. We lost our confidence quickly, too, missing baskets under the rim and open shots from outside. We fought later, never gave up and were able to stop the drought, giving some playing minutes to our young players. The defeat was clear, Olympiacos deserves credit for it, while our defense during the first half doesn't."
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"We made a great performance for the first 30 minutes. I enjoyed a lot watching my players during that period, as they played a very good team basketball, reading the game pretty well, both defensively and offensively. We totally controlled the game for three periods, against a big team. In the last 10 minutes, we lost our game a little bit but I understand my players. As everybody knows, our group is very tough and everyone can win everywhere. We have to work on building our mentality. We have to think about the next game and the next practice until the last game of the Top 16. It's a league that last for four months, so we have to forget what just happened in the last game, because the results will depend on many factors like injuries, mentality, the shape of crucial players, etc."

Players

NOCIONI, ANDRES
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"We never had a chance to win this game, from the very beginning. We were unable to play our game and the result was this one. We have nothing to do but look ahead and try to get up as soon as possible, as we have a crucial game this weekend to make it to the Spanish Cup. I think this is only the beginning, there are a lot of games left and the Top16 just started. I still think we will have a chance to qualify for the next round. This group is a very balanced one, as we can see from the results of the games played so far. Confidence comes and goes very quickly; this is a day-to-day battle. We lost today but we are capable of winning the next one, no doubt about it. We knew Olympiacos was going to come strong and they confirmed it. They played a great game from the very beginning."
LOJESKI, MATT
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I think that in the first five minutes, we dug a little hole. We tried to focus on our transition game, start playing defense, run the court and play more up-tempo basketball. The got guys confident, we made a lot of shots and we built a very comfortable lead. I didn't expect this game from them: we expected a really tough game, as you are coming to Spain to play against a big team. So we were a little bit surprised for being able to get such a big lead. They couldn't come back. We knew good things were going to come for us. We lost two in a row by missing some shots, but we knew that if we had made those, we could have won those games, so we tried to come here very focused. It was a big game for us, and now we face two home games that can get us back to the top."
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