Isaiah Canaan finished with a career-high 25 points, Alec Peters had 22 points and Thomas Walkup added 14 to lead Olympiacos to an 89-72 victory over Zalgiris in front of a frenetic crowd in the “Peace and Friendship Stadium”. Peters, Canaan and Walkup combined for 12 threes in a game that Olympiacos (6-4) started with 1-of-7 from deep in the opening quarter.
The “Reds” took control of the game in the second quarter as they outscored Zalgiris 24-12 and continued to push the pace on the remaining two quarters to earn their 3rd consecutive victory in the EuroLeague. Zalgiris(4-6) was unable to follow despite the efforts of Keenan Evans who had a team-high 21 points.
Olympiacos finished the second half with 14 made threes and put a dent to Zalgiris hopes to a comeback.
Match Report:
Olympiacos build its momentum by its defense with both teams protecting the paint and make it difficult for each other in the offensive end. Lukas Lekavicius hit a breakaway three to give Zalgiris its first lead (8-10) with 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter. The two teams continued to exchange punches and finished the opening quarter tied at 19-19.
With Olympiacos having already 7 assists in the 14 minutes of play, the home side found its offensive rhythm and took advantage of Zalgiris turnovers to build a strong lead. Back-to-back threes from Thomas Walkup and Ignas Brazdeikis pushed Olympiacos lead to 8 (36-27).
Isaiah Caanan made a huge defensive play in the next sequence and hit the two-pointer on the other end to bring Olympiacos ahead 38-27 which was the first double-digit lead of the game to that point. Olympiacos outscored Zalgiris 24-12 in the second quarter and went at the intermission ahead 43-31.
The “Reds” demonstrated the same intensity they had in the 2rd quarter and controlled the game even more than they did in the third period. With Canaan leading the way with consecutive big plays and Thomas Walkup orchestrating from the point guard position, Olympiacos hit 8 threes and pushed the lead to 15 (57-42).
A three-pointer from Peters with few seconds remaining gave a 20-point (69-49) advantage to the home team before Brady Manek answers with his own 3 to allow Zalgiris to finish the 3rd quarter down 17 (69-52). With the last 10 minutes of the game being characterized by Zalgiris making its last desperate attempt to return to the game, the Lithuanians cut the lead to 12 (78-66) with 4 minutes remaining.
However, three consecutive threes from Larentzakis, Canaan and Peters with less than 3:30 remaining put the game away and led Olympiacos to a comfortable 89-72 win in EuroLeague round 10.
