Olympiacos secured a win over Fenerbahce by 87:84 in the battle for third place at the EuroLeague Final Four in Berlin.
Olympiacos was defeated by Real Madrid in the semifinal by 87:76, while Fenerbahce suffered an even more convincing loss to Panathinaikos, 73:57.
Right from the start, it was evident that Olympiacos would adapt better to the ‘least important game,’ unlike the semifinal encounter, this time they were on fire from all angles, scoring 24 points in the opening quarter, securing an eight-point lead against Sarunas Jasikevicius‘ team, where Yam Madar got the chance to showcase his skills.
It didn’t help the Turkish team as Georgios Bartzokas‘ squad easily maintained their lead, with Nikola Milutinov being dominant. He scored 10 points with seven rebounds, becoming the central figure of the game. Overall, the Greek giant played a superb half in terms of rebounding, outrebounding their opponents 26 times, leading by 11 at halftime.
The team from Piraeus had a 13-point lead early in the third quarter, but Fenerbahce began to wake up and gradually ‘melt’ the deficit. Dyshawn Pierre played excellently and initiated a big surge for the ‘Canaries,’ which even resulted in the Turkish team taking the lead. However, Olympiacos scored five consecutive points and entered the final 10 minutes more satisfied.
This gave the Greek team the strength to gain new momentum, regain a double-digit lead, and this time it was decisive for them to win and secure third place. Fenerbahce tried to come back until the end of the game, but Georgios Bartzokas’ team had a ready response through Moses Wright. Olympiacos experienced a serious drop in performance towards the end, giving Sertac Sanli two shots for overtime. He missed the first one and made the second, but he did not manage to shoot in time, resulting in a victory for the Greek team.
The most deserving for this were Alec Peters with 20 points and Nigel Williams-Goss with 12. Fenerbahce was led by Dyshawn Pierre with 19 points and Scottie Wilbekin with 16 points.
In the final, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos will face each other, with the game scheduled to start at 20:00.
OLYMPIACOS – FENERBAHCE 87:84 (24:16, 24:21, 18:25, 21:22)
Venue: Uber Arena, Berlin
Referees: Nikolic, Radojkovic, Perugia
Olympiacos: Walkup 3, Williams-Goss 12, Wright 8, Canaan 8, Larentzakis 10, Mitrou-Long, Fall 2, Papanikolaou 5, Peters 20, Petrusev, Milutinov 10, McKissic 9
Fenerbahce: Motley 7, Hazer, Wilbekin 16, Sanli 11, Papagiannis 6, Hayes-Davis 3, Pierre 19, Guduric 6, Dorsey 5, Calathes 3, Madar, Sestina 8