Printezis heroics topple Zvezda in overtime

Georgios Printezis sank a nerveless and trademark game winner with 3 seconds remaining in overtime to give Olympiacos Piraeus a 64-66 victory – and home-court advantage in the playoffs – over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in a packed Kombank Arena. As expected between two of the competition’s best defences, it was a low-scoring encounter. But it was also absolutely enthralling as Olympiacos dominated early, restricting Zvezda to just 17 points in the first half. The home team roared back with an 18-0 run over the course of seven minutes, but Olympiacos responded and then the teams could not be separated until Printezis’s jumper settled it. Kostas Papanikolaou led the winning team with 17 points and 9 rebounds, while Dimitrios Agravanis added 16 and Printezis netted 15. Marko Guduric (14 points) and Charles Jenkins (13) paced Zvezda.

Olympiacos flexed its muscles as Papanikolaou scored 5 early points. Jenkins responded with 4 for the hosts, but Zvezda couldn’t get going on offense and Erick Green scored 4 consecutive points to make it 9-17 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a similar story, with Olympiacos’s remarkable defensive efforts forcing Zvezda into a series of tough shots and turnovers, and a triple from Agravanis capped a 0-7 run to make it 11-24. Jenkins helped narrow the deficit, but Olympiacos finished the quarter strong to take a 17-30 halftime lead. Ognjen Kuzmic scored 4 points early in the second half and Nate Wolters sank a long triple to make it 28-32, but Olympiacos responded through a triple and layup from Papanikolaou to re-establish its double digit lead. Then came the turning point, as consecutive triples from Guduric, Marko Simonovic and Nemanja Dangubic reduced the deficit to just 1 and Simonovic capped a stirring 11-0 run to give Zvezda its first lead in the final ticks of the third quarter. The fourth started with Guduric sinking another triple as the atmosphere in the already-electric Kombank Arena turned up another few notches. Milko Bjelica’s hustle layup made it 50-42, and Olympiacos was held scoreless for more than seven minutes before Agravanis stopped the rot with a triple. Jenkins immediately responded with his own three-pointer and Zvezda led 53-45 midway through the fourth. But Agravanis hit another triple and then converted a foul plus one to make it a 2-point game. After Papanikolaou’s foul shots tied it, Guduric and Printezis traded big triples and Vangelis Mantzaris missed a tough triple on the buzzer to send the game to overtime. The extra period contained mainly free throws, along with Papanikolaou and Simonovic driving hard for tough two-pointers, and it was tied until the final seconds when Printezis did what Printezis always seems to do.