SPORTS

Olympiakos sees off Galatasaray and qualifies

The strong start by Olympiakos to its crucial game with Galatasaray in Piraeus gave the Reds an 88-81 victory that saw them through to the quarterfinals of the Euroleague on Thursday.

The Greeks needed a win by at least two points on the night to advance and did it in style, to set up a playoff clash with Siena. The best-of-five series for a spot in the Istanbul Final Four begins on March 20.

Against Galatasaray Olympiakos was dominant throughout the game thanks to a very good first period, after which it led by 10 points (24-14).

The injury to Jamon Gordon troubled the Turks, but they somehow crawled their way back to the game taking the score to 54-53 halfway through the third period courtesy of two three-pointers by Jaka Lakovic.

That was when the Reds put together a 10-0 partial score to regain the upper hand (64-53) with the visitors being unable to recover since then.

The result meant that Olympiakos finished second in its group, behind CSKA and will not have home advantage in its face-off with Italy?s Siena.

Vassilis Spanoulis was the Reds? top scorer with 20 points while Giorgos Printezis scored 16 and Acie Law 14.

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