Olimpija blows out host Promitheas, 69-105

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana finished the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season in style, running over host Promitheas Patras 69-105 at the Dimitris Tofalos Arena on Wednesday. The visitors built a double-digit lead, 23-35, early in the second quarter and decided matters with a 0-17 right after halftime. Cedevita improved to 7-3 and finished the regular season in second place in Group D on its way to the Top 16. The winners were led by Jaka Blazic, who posted 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in 22 minutes. Kendrick Perry added 15 points in as many minutes, followed by Mikael Hopkins, Edo Muric and Alen Hodzic, who contributes 14, 14 and 10, respectively. Promitheas, who dropped to 2-7, was paced by youngsters Eleftherios Mantzoukas, with 10 points and 6 rebounds, and Georgios Tanoulis, who scored 12.

Hopkins and Perry filled an early 0-8 run for Olimpija before Blazic's corner three put the guests up 7-13. Promitheas managed to get within 16-17 behind backcourt scoring Perry, Hopkins and Blazic keyed another 0-8 run to make it 16-25 before Danny Agbelese's layup and Diante Garrett's buzzer-beating triple left a 23-27 scoreboard after 10 minutes. Luka Rupnik, Ivan Marinkovic and Muric pushed Olimpija again to a double-digit edge, 23-35, early in the second quarter. Michalis Lountzis snapped a Promitheas scoring drought with a deep three, but the hosts couldn't get closes as Olimpija dominated the offensive glass and forced several turnovers. Rok Radovic extended the gap to 32-47 with a fastbreak dunk and only a couple of late baskets by Periklis Kouroupakis helped the hosts keep breathing at halftime, 36-47. Promitheas found great help from their youngsters right after the break to make it 44-52, but back-to-back triples from Blazic and Perry ignited a massive 0-17 Olimpija run to a 44-69 advantage. Even though Tanoulis showed some pride and connected from long range twice, the visitors kept enlarging the margin with ease. A triple by Muric, a three-point play by Ziga Dimec and another bomb by Rupnik made it 53-84 entering the last quarter. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Cedevita continued rocking to its seventh victory and looked forward to the Top 16 in 2021.

Only a half

Short-handed Promitheas could only resist for 20 minutes against Olimpija. Even though the visitors escaped 23-35 early in the second period, the hosts managed to stay alive at halftime, 36-47. A 0-17 run in the third quarter, though, confirmed Olimpija's superiority.

Stellar stats

Olimpija established its EuroCup club highs in points (105), two-pointers made (33) and performance index rating (139), also proving dominant under the boards. It outrebounded Promitheas 45-27, getting 19 offensive boards that led to 21 second-chance points.

Youngsters showed up

Taking advantage of their team's absences, Eleftherios Mantzoukas (17), Athanasios Bazinas (17), Georgios Tanoulis (18), Periklis Kouroupakis (18) and Nikolaos Vasileiou (15) saw big playing time for Promitheas, mainly after halftime, and proved they are ready for the upcoming challenges.

Next game

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana will return for 7DAYS EuroCup action starting January 13, 2021. Promitheas still has a postponed game from Round 8, at home against Frutti Extra Bursaspor on Tuesday, December 22.