Olympiacos overcame Lottomatica Roma 89-82

Olympiacos secured first place in Group B of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by holding off Lottomatica Roma 89-82 with four players scoring in double figures. Vassilis Spanoulis paced Olympiacos with 18 points while Milos Teodosic scored 16 points and Ioannis Bourousis had 15. Rasho Nesterovic poured in 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter in helping Olympiacos improve to 7-3 in Group B play and extending the team’s home court winning streak to 20 games at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus. Lottomatica dropped to 5-5 in the group despite 22 points by Ali Traore and 16 points each from Nihad Djedovic and Darius Washington while Luigi Datome chipped in 14 points. Olympiacos made 17 of 20 free throws while Roma hit just 7 of 12. Olympiacos outrebounded the guests 41-21.

Washington opened the game with a jumper to give Roma the lead. Jamon Lucas got Olympiacos on the board with two foul shots. Spanoulis’s alley-oop attempt from beyond the arc went in and then Bourousis tapped in for a 7-2 lead and an early Lottomatica timeout. A Bourousis three-ball and a Yotam Halperin jumper just before the shot clock buzzer pushed the gap to 12-4 before Datome and Djedovic converted fast break layups to storm back within 12-8, resulting in an Olympiacos timeout. After Washington went to the bench with his second foul in the first four minutes, Bourousis scored six of Olympiacos’s next eight points to give the hosts a 10-point lead 20-10. Roma stepped up its defensive effort while Djedovic converted a three-point play and Traore hit a running hook shot before a Spanoulis driving layup ended an 0-7 run and kept Olympiacos ahead 22-17. Datome dunked on a 3-on-0 Roma fast break and then Washington nailed a long three-pointer to knot the game at 22-22. Washington just missed a three at the buzzer which could have put Lottomatica ahead after one period.

Roma went ahead on the first score of the second quarter on an inside basket by Djedovic. Teodosic answered with a jumper to even the game at 24-24 and Olympiacos was ahead 26-24 when Lucas stole the ball from Washington and dunked – though Washington was on the floor in pain and would have to be taken to the locker room after getting poked in the eye by Lucas on the steal. A tough basket by Andrea Crosariol had Lottomatica within 28-26. But Teodosic hit a layup and a three-pointer to open a 33-26 gap. Roma would not go away with Vladimir Dasic hitting a long ball of his own and Traore’s three-point play making it 36-34. But Zoran Erceg, Teodosic and Marko Keselj all nailed three pointers in pushing Olympiacos back out to a 45-37 lead before Washington’s jumper supplied the 45-39 score at the break.

The second half opened with a Nesterovic layup. Traore answered with back-to-back baskets to trim the margin to 47-43. Olympiacos continued to be strong inside with Nesterovic putting back and offensive rebound and Loukas Mavrokefalides hitting a dunk for a 51-44 lead. Keselj also hit from down town and Bourousis’s layup pushed the advantage back to 10 points, 56-46. Lottomatica fought back with a Washington long ball and a Luca Vitali layup to pull within 56-51. But a Theodoros Papaloukas fast break layup and a Bourousis dunk finished off an 8-2 close to the third period to open the biggest lead of the game yet at 64-53, which was the score after three periods.

Traore tried to get Roma back into the game with two early baskets and Djedovic converted a three-point play to trim the deficit to 67-60. And it was 69-63 after a Dasic three-ball from the right wing. Spanoulis however answered with his second trey of the quarter only to watch Djedovic nail a long ball of his own in keeping Roma down just 72-66 with six minutes to play. Lottomatica however had no answer for Nesterovic in the fourth quarter as he tallied eight of Olympiacos’s next 9 points in building the lead back to 81-70. Traore and Djedovic refused to let Roma die in pulling within 83-76 with two minutes to play. And Djedovic nearly stole the ball from Teodosic but last season’s MVP hit a three-pointer with the shot clocking running down to push the margin back to 86-76. And another inside basket by Nesterovic sealed the game for good.