Away win at last for Olympiakos, and at Armani too
Panathinaikos records its third Euroleague victory, over Zenit
Olympiakos scored its first road victory in the Euroleague this season, downing Armani Milano in Italy on Friday, after Panathinaikos recorded its third win in the campaign, against Zenit in Athens on Thursday.
After four losses in as many away games, Olympiakos registered the first road win by any Greek team in the Euroleague to date, overcoming Armani 93-72 and the criticism from its league loss to Panathinaikos last Monday.
A stellar first-half performance made the difference for the Reds, as they scored 60 points (leading 60-45 at half-time) with 12/16 triples. In the second half the Piraeus team dropped a gear, but was strong enough in defense to preserve its lead and go on to win by 21 in the end.
Olympiakos had Giannoulis Larentzakis score a career-high five three-pointers to reach 18 points, followed by Tyler Dorsey with 14 points.
The result has brought Olympiakos back up to third at the table, matching Armani’s 8-4 record.
Nemanja Nedovic and Giorgos Papagiannis led Panathinaikos to a precious win over Zenit St Petersburg at home with a 70-64 score, that put an end to the club’s longest ever losing streak in the competition with five defeats.
The Greens had to wait for the 24th minute to lead for the first time, but their partial 18-2 turned them into the game’s boss and carried them through to victory.
The Greek champion’s renewed confidence thanks to the away win in the league against Olympiakos paid off, as did the recovered Nedovic, who made 18 points (six fouls earned, five assists). Papagiannis had one of his career games, with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Panathinaikos has now come off the bottom of the table, with a 3-9 record.
