2019-20Regular SeasonRound 18
Valencia Basket 91
Olympiacos Piraeus 93
January 10, 2020 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 LA FONTETA

Olympiacos pull out crucial win in Valencia

In an entertaining game that went down to the wire, Olympiacos Piraeus ended its three-game losing streak with a 91-93 road win at Valencia Basket on Friday night. The victory gave Olympiacos a 7-11 record while Valencia saw its six-game home winning streak snapped, dropping to 8-10 on the season. The teams traded leads throughout the game and exchanged several fourth-quarter runs. But Olympiacos was the last one to deliver the punch, then used offensive rebounds from Sasha Vezenkov and Georgios Printezis to preserve the lead and the victory. Printezis led the winners with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Vezenkov collected 17 points and 7 rebounds. Kostas Papanikolaou added 16 points, Brandon Paul netted 12 on 4-for-7 three-point shooting, and Vassilis Spanoulis had 10 points and 8 assists for the Reds. Fernando San Emeterio shined for Valencia with 23 points and Vanja Marinkovic had a career night with 20. Sam Van Rossom scored 11 and Aaron Doornekamp 10 in the losing effort.

Papanikolaou had a productive start to the game, scoring 6 points as Olympiacos was up 2-8, but San Emeterio answered with a three-pointer to start an 8-1 run that put Valencia in front. Taylor Rochestie hit a triple for Olympiacos as the teams kept trading punches, with San Emeterio's baseline jumper tying it at 16-16 after 10 minutes. Paul and Guillem Vives exchanged three-pointers in the opening minute of the second quarter, and after Vezenkov gave an offensive boost to the visitors, Vives knocked down another one from way downtown to restore Valencia's lead midway through the quarter, 27-25. Soon, however, Vezenkov and Paul hit back-to-back triples as Spanoulis orchestrated the offense with 3 assists to give the visitors 31-39 lead. San Emeterio snapped a 2-12 Olympiacos run and cut the difference to 36-39 before halftime. Valencia went back in front 42-41 after back-to-back triples from Quino Colom and Doornekamp, but the visitors scored the next 9 points, including three-pointers from Papanikolaou and Antonios Koniaris, to open 42-50 lead. Koniaris's second triple made it 43-53 midway through the third, but San Emeterio and Marinkovic replied with a three-pointer apiece. Valencia got within 55-58 as San Emeterio scored 6 more points, but Paul hit a triple to give the Reds with some breathing room. Vezenkov beat the shot clock with an off-balanced triple and Printezis beat the third-quarter buzzer to make it 63-70. Valencia needed less than 2 minutes to tie the game, with Doornekamp hitting from deep and Marinkovic picking Spanoulis's pocket to race for a dunk. Olympiacos answered with a 0-8 run as Paul and Vezenkov each buried long-distance shots. Then, it was Valencia's turn to string together baskets, with Sam Van Rossom hitting a triple to spark a 9-0 run capped by Colom's jumper to put the hosts up 79-78. But Papanikolaou sparked Olympiacos to a 1-7 run, capped by a triple from Printezis, to make it 80-85. Marinkovic kept Valencia with a chance, but Vezenkov had a tip-in, and with the Reds up 86-89, Printezis grabbed a key offensive rebound with 9.9 seconds to go and made the ensuing free throws to seal the game.

Timely offensive boards

Valencia outrebounded Olympiacos 41-33, including 12-6 on the offensive glass. However, the key offensive rebounds proved to be those by the Reds. First, Sasha Vezenkov came out of nowhere for a tip-in with 1:45 to go that made it 82-87. Then, with Olympiacos clinging to an 86-89 lead, Kostas Papanikolaou missed both free throws but Printezis attacked the glass and got the rebound that secured an important victory for the visitors.

Finding three-point range

Olympiacos entered the game averaging just 8.0 three-point shots made per game, but hit 12 on this night, its second-highest total this season. Brandon Paul was the author of 4 of those shots, in 7 attempts, while Vezenkov hist 3 of 6 and Antonios Koniaris gave a big contribution by making 2 of 3 from behind the arc.

Streaks

Valencia won six consecutive home games before this loss. And while that streak ended, another one continued. In this rivalry, Valencia won the first meeting between these teams in Piraeus in 2003. Since then, however, Olympiacos is now on a nine-game winning streak.

A vet and a rookie

A seasoned veteran and a rookie shined the brightest for Valencia in this game. Fernando San Emeterio scored just 19 points over five games going into this clash, only to drop 23 against Olympiacos, which is just two shy of his career-high. In addition, rookie shooting guard Vanja Marinkovic netted 20 points for a PIR of 26, both season highs.

Next up

Both teams will be in action already on Tuesday in Round 19. Valencia travels to face Khimki Moscow Region (8-10), while Olympiacos will be at home to welcome ALBA Berlin (5-13).

Vassilis Spanoulis - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB19
Friday, January 10, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; SHEMMESH, SEFFI; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 7142
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket16202728
Olympiacos Piraeus16233123
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket16366391
Olympiacos Piraeus16397093
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COLOM, QUINO 14:19 9 2/3 1/3 2/3   4 4 1   1     1 3 11
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 22:48 20 3/4 2/3 8/8 1 3 4   1       3 6 26
5 NDOUR, MAURICE 16:55 6 2/3   2/2 2 2 4           1 2 10
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 13:57 1 0/3 0/2 1/2 1 1 2         1 1 1 -4
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 13:28 2 0/1   2/2 1 4 5     1     3 3 5
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 19:12 11 2/6 1/4 4/4   1 1 2           2 9
12 MOTUM, BROCK 1:40                   1     1   -2
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 23:05 2 1/6 0/2   3 6 9 2   3   1 2 1 1
16 VIVES, GUILLEM 6:17 6   2/4         1         1   4
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 27:18 23 5/5 2/5 7/11 1 3 4 1 1 2     3 8 25
30 SASTRE, JOAN 16:09 1   0/1 1/2   1 1 2 1 1 2     2 6
42 DOORNEKAMP, AARON 24:52 10 2/3 2/4   1 3 4           3   8
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 91 17/34 10/28 27/34 12 29 41 9 3 9 2 2 19 28 102
        50% 35.7% 79.4%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME
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
1 ROCHESTIE, TAYLOR 21:20 7 1/5 1/3 2/2   3 3 4   1   1 4 2 4
2 BALDWIN IV, WADE 11:00 2 0/2 0/1 2/2       3 1       3 3 3
3 PAUL, BRANDON 25:41 12   4/7   1 2 3 1 1 1     3   10
4 CHARALAMPOPOULOS, VASILIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 KONIARIS, ANTONIOS 11:45 8 1/1 2/3     1 1 1 2 1     3 1 8
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 24:57 10 3/4 0/6 4/4   1 1 8 2 3   1 3 5 12
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 14:51         1 4 5 2         3   4
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 34:10 19 5/6 3/6   1 6 7       1   1   22
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 23:35 16 5/7 1/2 3/4 1 6 7 3   1 1   1 3 24
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 23:38 16 5/7 1/4 3/6 1 2 3 1   1     4 3 10
21 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 9:03 3 1/1   1/3                 3 2  
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 93 21/33 12/32 15/21 6 27 33 23 6 8 2 2 28 19 100
        63.6% 37.5% 71.4%
Head coach: KEMZURA, KESTUTIS

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"Congratulations to Olympiacos, they played a very good basketball. I think that their 23 assists explains the level of their play tonight. I am happy with the mentality of my players. They gave 100%. Maybe not efficiently, ups and downs, but we tried, we won the rebounds. But the key moments of the game were their two offensive rebounds. They had only six offensive rebounds, but two in the key moments of the game. And they were efficient in three-pointers in the key moments, especially in the last seconds of the possessions."
KEMZURA, KESTUTIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"We needed it badly. Every win is important, but in this moment after losses, after problems, injuries, we badly needed this win and congratulations to my guys. They showed big heart, big character. We fought in every square meter. You can miss or make the shots, but the fight was here. An offensive rebound from Georgios Printezis was huge… Same as Valencia. They are tough, they never give up. We knew it. Even where we were leading, they were coming back. They were punishing us every play when we made mistakes and did not play right, and they kept coming in front of their crowd. They play with passion, play with energy. To beat a good opponent on the road, a win is even sweeter."

Players

PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"It is not easy to beat Valencia at La Fonteta. Valencia played well the last games and they play like a team. For us it was like a final. Everybody knew that if we lost this game it would be very difficult to be to the playoffs. It was one good win for us, but we have to improve our game and to play much better because more crucial games are coming. I hope it can be a [turning point of the season]. We have to look at our team, and look at how to improve. It is a long season, and we have to fight."
VEZENKOV, SASHA
Olympiacos Piraeus
"It is a very tough place to play. Valencia has been playing very good. We did not play our best game, but we played a solid game with a lot of heart and energy. Also with a lot of mistakes, but finally we are very happy to win this game. Everybody who stepped on the court gave 100%. We played as a team, as a unit, and we are very happy we won in such a difficult gym."