2020-21Regular SeasonRound 7
November 05, 2020 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 SIBUR ARENA

Martin leads Olympiacos to road win

Olympiacos Piraeus grabbed its second road win of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season by downing previously undefeated Zenit St Petersburg 66-75 at Sibur Arena on Thursday. Olympiacos improved to 4-3 in the standings while Zenit dropped to 2-1. Hassan Martin led the winners with 16 points. Shaquielle McKissic added 10 and four of his Olympiacos teammates had at least 7 points. Billy Baron led Zenit with 13 points, all in the fourth quarter, while Austin Hollins added 12 for the hosts, who rallied from a 16-point deficit to get within 60-63. Sasha Vezenkov struck from downtown then and McKissic added a huge dunk to make sure that Olympiacos returned home with a road victory.

Martin got Olympiacos going with a layup but Hollins answered from downtown. Kostas Papanikolaou and Charles Jenkins buried three-pointers and Martin scored again for Olympiacos but Kevin Pangos and Hollins kept the hosts within 9-10. Martin kept pacing the Reds, getting help from Livio Jean-Charles and Kostas Sloukas to boost the visitors' lead to 11-17. Hollins struck twice from beyond the arc and K.C. Rivers scored off a steal to put Zenit in charge, 20-19, after 10 minutes. Arturas Gudaitis dunked early in the second quarter. Octavius Ellis followed a turnaround jumper with a layup for a 22-23 Olympiacos lead. Rivers buried a triple but Vassilis Spanoulis and Vezenkov kept the guests ahead, 25-29. McKissic took over with a three-point play, then Georgios Printezis and Spanoulis combined for 6 points in a 0-10 run that made it a double-digit Olympiacos advantage, 27-41, at halftime. Pangos and Papanikolaou exchanged three-pointers soon after the break, then Gudaitis and Mateusz Ponitka brought Zenit within 36-44. Jean-Charles stepped up with a put-back basket and Martin added 4 points in a 0-7 run that extended Olympiacos's lead to 36-51. McKissic bettered Ponitka's driving layup with a bomb from downtown. Will Thomas joined the three-point shootout but Papanikolaou and Jean-Charles kept Olympiacos fully in charge, 43-58, after 30 minutes. Martin hit a jump hook early in the fourth quarter that Baron answered with consecutive three-pointers, giving Zenit hope at 49-60. Alex Poythress followed a layup with an alley-oop slam in a 12-0 run the Baron capped with a fastbreak basket. Spanoulis silenced the crowd with a triple but Baron and Andrey Zubkov got the hosts within striking distance, 60-63, with 4 minutes left. Vezenkov buried a big three-pointer and McKissic added a show-stopping dunk in traffic. Martin scored down low to seal the outcome, 60-70, as Zenit did not recover in the final 2 minutes.

Pivotal performer

Martin had a near-perfect performance, leading Olympiacos to a big road win. He finished the game with 16 points on 7-for-7 two-point shooting while making 2 of 2 free throws, adding 3 rebounds and a steal for a PIR of 15.

Game-changing moment

Thomas scored down low to bring Zenit within 27-31. Spanoulis connected with Printezis for a layup and then scored in penetration. It was the start of a 0-10 run in which Printezis hit his trademark jump hook and both Vezenkov and Giannoulis Larentzakis made free throws. After that, Olympiacos led 27-41 at halftime and never trailed again.

Stellar stat

Two-point shots made the difference in this game, especially in the first half. Olympiacos hit 20-of-26 shots inside the arc (55.6%) and limited Zenit to just 10-of-25 (40.0%). At halftime, Olympiacos had made 12 of 19 two-pointers (63.2%) and Zenit just 4 of 14 (28.6%).

Did you know?

It was Olympiacos's first-ever win against Zenit. Both teams had never faced each other until last season, when Zenit managed to beat the Reds twice: 68-77 in overtime at Peace and Friendship Stadium and 91-87 at Sibur Arena.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action next week. Zenit plays twice, in fact. It hosts AX Armani Exchange Milan in a rescheduled game on Wednesday, November 11 and visits LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Friday, November 13. In between, Olympiacos welcomes ALBA Berlin to Piraeus on Thursday.

Hassan Martin - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB20
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; LATISEVS, OLEGS; KOWALSKI, MARCIN
Attendance: 2315
By Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg2071623
Olympiacos Piraeus19221717
End of Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg20274366
Olympiacos Piraeus19415875
Zenit St Petersburg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 RIVERS, KC 25:31 5 1/2 1/6     2 2   2 1     2 2 2
4 PANGOS, KEVIN 22:45 9 0/5 3/5   1   1 7   1     3   6
7 FRIDZON, VITALY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 25:42 12 0/1 4/10     1 1   1 2 1 1 3   2
10 THOMAS, WILL 23:52 7 2/2 1/1 0/2 2 5 7 1   2     2 2 11
12 BARON, BILLY 18:49 13 2/5 3/6   1 2 3 2 2 1     1 2 14
13 KHVOSTOV, DMITRY 4:26         1   1 1   1     1    
16 TRUSHKIN, VLADISLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 13:38 3   1/2   1 2 3 2 1 2     2   4
22 POYTHRESS, ALEX 24:31 7 2/4   3/4 2 3 5 1 2 2     1 4 13
25 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 25:17 4 1/2 0/2 2/2   2 2 3         4 4 6
77 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 15:29 6 2/4   2/2   1 1   2 2   1 2 5 7
Team           2 3 5     2         3
Totals 200:00 66 10/25 13/32 7/10 10 21 31 17 10 16 1 2 21 19 68
        40% 40.6% 70%
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI
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
2 HARRISON, AARON 3:41     0/1                   1   -2
5 LARENTZAKIS, GIANNOULIS 4:42 2     2/2                 1 1 2
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 20:00 9 2/4 1/4 2/3   3 3 5 1 1     2 5 14
11 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 23:04 3 0/4 1/2     1 1 4 1 3     1 1 1
12 MARTIN, HASSAN 23:30 16 7/7   2/2 2 1 3   1 3     3 1 15
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 14:32 9 2/3 1/2 2/2   4 4     1     1 1 10
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 8:52 4 2/4       2 2   1 1       1 5
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 31:37 8 1/2 2/4     3 3 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 9
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 22:13 7 2/6 0/1 3/3 2 3 5 1 1 1     2 4 10
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 14:22 3   1/1     1 1   1       4   1
32 ELLIS, OCTAVIUS 10:53 4 2/3     3 1 4     3     1 3 6
77 MCKISSIC, SHAQUIELLE 22:34 10 2/3 1/2 3/5   2 2 2         1 3 12
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 75 20/36 7/17 14/17 8 24 32 15 7 16 2 1 19 21 87
        55.6% 41.2% 82.4%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

PASCUAL, XAVI
Zenit St Petersburg
"First of all, congratulations to Olympiacos. They were much better than us and this is why they won. It was one game in which it was obvious our situation after 26-27 days without playing, today our picture was very clear. We were not physically ready and also mentally ready. After this pandemic, players didn't practice for 15 days, but we tried. We tried to be in the game and finally, the game was decided in the final 5 minutes of the second quarter. In that moment, Olympiacos took a 12-point advantage and this is why, finally, we fought and tried to be back, but we couldn't change the way of the game. When you are losing by 14 and come back, a detail can decide the game. The problem was the last 5 minutes of the second quarter in which we were not in the game, defensively and offensively. This is why we lost this game today."
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"We were leading the score the whole game, sometimes with differences bigger than 10 points. But to be honest, we had a difficult period during the fourth quarter when we gave Zenit the opportunity to come back to the game with the great shooters that they have. In this period, we made a lot of turnovers. Coach Pascual changed to a zone defense and we needed some time to adjust to this. That was the reason why Zenit came back to the game but finally, with two or three good plays on defense and two or three good plays on offense, we found the open man and finished the game as we wanted. For us, it was a very important win. Congratulations to Zenit. I would like to say that I was really happy that, after a long time, I saw spectators in the gym, because basketball is for fans."

Players

MARTIN, HASSAN
Olympiacos Piraeus
"That is a great shooting team and they went on a little run. That's what good teams do, they went on a run, but luckily, we fought back and didn't let them get the win. They didn't give up but I am proud of my team and the way we pulled this one out. I can always be better, I am not satisfied. I have a lot of improvements to do offensively and defensively. Most of all, I am just happy we won."
SPANOULIS, VASSILIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"It was a very important game for us because we lost the last two games. We had to react and that's what we did today. We won on a very difficult court against a very good team. I think that we played very good defense and most of the time, we took good decisions on offense. For sure, it was one of our best games although we didn't play so many games. It is only seven games but for sure, when you win against such a good team, it is always a good win."
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