2016-17Regular SeasonRound 12
Zalgiris Kaunas 75
Olympiacos Piraeus 88
December 15, 2016 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA
Matt Lojeski - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB16

Olympiacos storms to late win in Kaunas

Olympiacos Piraeus took over a close game in the final quarter to take home a 75-88 victory against Zalgiris in Kaunas, where the Reds had lost by 30 last season. The final score was deceptive after 23 lead changes and 10 ties in the first 30 minutes, but Olympiacos owned the last 10 to run away with the victory and improve to an 8-4 record. Zalgiris dropped to 4-8. Olympiacos filled the boxscore with six double-figure scorers, led by Matt Lojeski and Kostas Papanikolaou with 16 each. Georgios Printezis added 15, but limped off in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. Khem Birch posted 13 points, including 7 of 8 late free throws, while Erick Green and Vassilis Spanoulis scored 10 each. Spanoulis had 8 assists as well. Paulius Jankunas paced Zalgiris with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Brock Motum added 12 points, while Lukas Lekavicius had 11 and 8 assists.

Kevin Pangos fired in a triple to start the scoring while a patented Printezis flip-in got the Reds on the board. A pair of put-backs by Printezis and Papanikolaou made it 5-9 but Leo Westermann's three-point and a fadeaway by Jankunas put the hosts ahead. Printezis answered with a bank shot and Pangos with a layup as the lead changed hands again. Nikola Milutinov with a dunk off a great pass from Spanoulis made it 14-17 but Edgaras Ulanovas and Arturas Milaknis soon put Zalgiris up 20-19. Printezis hit a one-hander from the foul line before Lekavicius fed Motum in the corner for a triple as Zalgiris led 23-21 after 10 minutes. Motum scored before Lojeski and Milaknis traded triples to start the second quarter. Green and Spanouls both struck from deep them for a 30-30 tie. Birch slammed a miss to put Olympiacos back in front, 33-34, but Renaldas Seibutis answered from long range to switch it again. After Lekavicius converting made it 38-36. Birch tied it up with a put-back dunk then took a pass from Spanoulis for the lead. Printezis made a brilliant move for a running jumper as Olympiacos pulled into halftime ahead 40-42.

Jankunas and Papanikolaou flipped the scoreboard with triples to start the second half at 43-45. Printezis scored in close then came back with a triple for the Reds' biggest lead yet, 45-50, but soon a fastbreak by Seibutis preceded Pangos hitting a floater for another lead change, 51-50. Lojeski forged a new tie by beating the shot clock and Papanikolaou stole for a go-ahead breakaway layup. Green buried a triple and Milutinov finished the third quarter at the foul line giving Olympiacos a 60-63 advantage. Lojeski's floater opened the fourth quarter and soon a block by Papapetrou led to Green's triple at 62-67. Spanoulis reappeared with a step-back triple that elicited a groan from the Zalgiris fans at 62-70. After Lojeski's fastbreak reverse upped the difference to 64-73, worries hit Olympiacos as Printezis limped off the floor with an knee injury. Papanikolaou struck from the arc for the game's first double-digit lead, 66-76, but free throws and a big steal from Zalgiris led to a Motum layup at 70-76 with 3 minutes left. Spanoulis slalomed for a layup and Birch made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch, however, as the Olympiacos defense reasserted itself and the visitors walked off winners.

Thursday, December 15, 2016
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; CORTES, CARLOS
Attendance: 11097
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23172015
Olympiacos Piraeus21212125
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23406075
Olympiacos Piraeus21426388
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 18:27 7 2/4 1/3     2 2 3 2 2     3 2 7
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 21:42 11 3/8 0/4 5/5 1 3 4 8   2   1 1 3 13
6 VALINSKAS, PAULIUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 21:32 7 2/5 0/2 3/3 1 3 4 3 3 3   1 2 3 9
10 SEIBUTIS, RENALDAS 15:21 5 1/1 1/1     2 2               7
12 MOTUM, BROCK 26:26 12 3/6 2/4   2 2 4 2   2   2 2   7
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 25:06 18 4/13 2/2 4/4 2 5 7         3 5 5 13
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 3:25                         1   -1
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 24:53 6 0/1 2/8     1 1 1 2 1   1 3 4 2
23 LIMA, AUGUSTO 11:56   0/1       2 2     2 2   3 1 -1
44 KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS 13:07 6 2/2   2/2           1     4 1 2
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 18:05 3 1/4   1/1       1   2 1   2 1 -1
Team           7 1 8               8
Totals 200:00 75 18/45 8/24 15/15 13 21 34 18 7 15 3 8 26 20 65
        40% 33.3% 100%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
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 GREEN, ERICK 18:20 10 1/2 2/3 2/2   3 3 3 1 2 1   5 2 11
2 BIRCH, KHEM 24:03 13 3/4   7/8 2 4 6   1       2 4 20
4 YOUNG, PATRIC 3:56 2     2/2                   1 3
6 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 15:00   0/2 0/2   1 2 3       3 1 1    
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 29:51 10 2/5 2/7     2 2 8   6   1 2 4 7
10 AGRAVANIS, DIMITRIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 11:59 6 2/3 0/1 2/2 2 1 3   1 1 2   1 2 10
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 23:19 15 6/9 1/2 0/2 2 4 6   1 1     1 2 16
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 21:16 16 3/4 2/2 4/5 1 4 5   3 1 1   3 4 23
17 MANTZARIS, VANGELIS 22:41   0/3 0/1     2 2 1 1     1 2 2 -1
24 LOJESKI, MATT 26:31 16 4/6 1/5 5/5 2 6 8 1 2 3 1   2 4 21
27 ATHINAIOU, IOANNIS 3:04   0/1           1         1 1  
Team           2 1 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 88 21/39 8/23 22/26 12 29 41 14 10 15 8 3 20 26 112
        53.8% 34.8% 84.6%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Like I said before the game, we would have to take them down from 70 points to win, and that didn't happen. I think defensively we are not playing good basketball lately, but we are also playing against opponents who have very good players. So sometimes it's difficult, and we'll continue trying to improve on defense."
SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Olympiacos Piraeus

"I think we continued to play with the same consistency in the second half, defensively and offensively. I believe that our defense in the last period was the key. As long as we stayed in the game and were up, the pressure went to Zalgiris, and at the end they didn't have good options on offense. We kept them to 15 points in the last period and we won the game. I don't know how serious Printezis is. He extended his knee and the doctor will look at it tomorrow."

"It was a close game against a very good team. Zalgiris showed the last five games that they have very big quality. They won three of them and lost very close games in Moscow and Madrid. We knew that we would have a very difficult game against a very good opponent. That's why we were very focused and concentrated, and I believe we had very good concentration for 40 minutes. In general we had a good game, primarily on defense, and were very good at stopping easy baskets and scoring from Zalgiris. And offensively we had a very good productive day, with six players in double-digit numbers. We studied all the weaknesses of the Zalgiris defense and we attacked to the right spot with the right person. It was obvious that the game would be tough at the end, and at that moment we were very focused and played good defense. On the other side, we scored 46 points in the second half and this is good production for us. It's a good win for us on the road but it's too early to think of something more except the next game."

Players

JANKUNAS, PAULIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"It was a bad game for us defensively. We didn't stop them on defense. They scored too many points. And in the fourth quarter, we couldn't score. They got the lead by 10 points and they won."
MOTUM, BROCK
Zalgiris Kaunas
"It was a very tough game. We were in it for about three quarters, but we just gave up too many lapses on defense and we had too many mental mistakes. They scored a lot more than we should have given up. You can't try to outscore teams like that, especially when it's a high-level defensive team."
LOJESKI, MATT
Olympiacos Piraeus
"We just fought. It's a difficult place to play. We fought as hard as we could. We played good defense and played really good together on offense. It was close all the way until the fourth quarter, but then we got some stops and were able to run in transition for some easy baskets."