Baskonia sinks Piraeus on the horn
A Miller-McIntyre basket with 0.7 seconds marks an up-and-down duel
BARCELONA, 9 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Baskonia beat Olympiacos this Thursday (74-75) in the duel of the seventh day of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague in the Pavilion of Peace and Friendship in Piraeus, a Greek fiefdom that Codi Miller-McIntyre sank on the horn with a winning basket with 0.7 seconds remaining that allows Dusko Ivanovic’s team to return home with a big smile.
It was a crazy game, with comings and goings and great sets and maximum advantages for both teams. In an accordion duel, the scoreboard was very tight for a heart-stopping final few minutes in which McIntyre, with just two baskets and after missing a previous shot, became a Baskonista hero.
With 10 seconds of possession after Larentzakis made it 74-73 from the free throw line, the American guard asked for the ball and, against Isaiah Canaan who was the top scorer for Olympiacos and the game with 20 points, he did not shrink and scored in suspension. After the referees reviewed the play, the basket was validated and the game was decided.
And Moustapha Fall couldn’t put a tap into the hoop that was more typical of volleyball than basketball. He won Baskonia in one of the most difficult places in the Euroleague to achieve his third victory and equal, with a still negative balance of 3-4, the Greeks. And facing not only Canaan but also former Baskonista Alec Peters, author of 22 points.
After a terrible start to the game that caused Olympiacos to go within 11 points (13-2), Baskonia began to calibrate its game. They improved in attack and tightened in defense to dry out the Greeks, except for Isaiah Canaan who did his thing, adding three by three. But from that -11, Baskonia went to +18 at the end of the second quarter with a partial 0-12 included.
The Vitorians left Olympiacos with 9 points in that second quarter that seemed to catapult Ivanovic’s team. But it was not like that because Olympiacos reacted well, closed the gap and, despite the great performance of Baskonista Chima Moneke, with 20 points and 8/9 in field goals (two three-pointers without a miss included), they signed up for the final battle.
With a final quarter that began with a 6-0 partial for the locals (66-67 on the scoreboard), everything returned to square one. There was no inspiration or spectacle in a quarter that ended with a brief 14-8. Baskonia was worse, offensively, than Olympiacos in that forgettable second set, but knew how to stay ahead with that final winning basket by Miller-McIntyre.
A prestigious victory, to cheer up, in which the Baskonia of the ‘everlasting’ Dusko Ivanovic managed to overcome the losses of Khalifa Diop and Nico Mannion, and with Chris Chiozza who, coming back from injury, played 18 minutes but visibly far from his best state of form.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: OLYMPIACOS, 74 – BASKONIA, 75 (35-50, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
OLYMPICS: Canaan (23), Walkup (-), Papanikolaou (6), Peters (22) and Fall (10) — starting quintet–; Williams-Goss (4), Lountzis (-), Larentzakis (7), Brazdeikis (2) and Milutinov (-).
BASCONY: Howard (11), Miller-McIntyre (4), Sedekerskis (12), Raieste (2) and Costello (7) — starting quintet–; Chris (5), Marinkovic (10), Kotsar (4) and Moneke (20).
–PARTIALS: 26-20, 9-30, 25-17 and 14-8.
–REFEREES: Belosevic, Zamojski and Konstantinovs. No eliminated.
–PABELLÓN: Peace And Friendship Stadium.