Olympiacos Piraeus opened 2021 in the Euroleague with a dramatic, 84-82 win against Bayern Munich on Friday night (8/1). The two teams went head-to-head in most of the time, with Bayern having the chance to get the win in the last seconds but Zipser missing the three point shot. At the end of the match, coach Trinchieri had an intense talk with the referees, complaining about the last shot of the game asking for a foul on Zipser.
Kostas Sloukas was on fire with 24 points and he was the leading scorer for Olympiacos. Sasha Vezenkov had another convincing performance for the hosts with 13 points while Aaron Harrison and Octavius Ellis scored 11 points each. Seeley’s career high of 26 points on the other hand, was not enough for Bayern to secure the win, while Jalen Reynolds scored another 20 for the German side.
The Match
Bayern Munich opened the score in the first quarter with two points from Radosevic with Hassan Martin registering his first two points for Olympiacos. Kostas Sloukas with his first three pointer of the match gave Olympiacos their first lead of the match with Bayern Munich tying it with their own triple (5-5). Back-to-back triples from Olympiacos, brought the hosts up in the score with Aaron Harrison also registering his first three points of the match (8-5). George Printezis with a beautiful move and the basket got the score to 10-7 with Wade Baldwin unable to reply. The co-captain of Olympiacos, scored five consecutive points and extended his team’s lead to 4 points halfway the first quarter (13-9). Great defensive play from the hosts with Kostas Sloukas making the steal and delivering the ball to Printezis for an easy bucket on the fast break and a quick 7-point lead (16-9). Reynolds took the difference down to 5 points, with Zipser getting the offensive foul and Seeley completing a 4-point play scoring the triple and the extra free throw (16-15). Zipser with the triple, put Bayern back in the leader’s position but unable to extend their lead even further with Weiler-Babb. Kostas Sloukas tied the game from the free throw line and gave Olympiacos a single point advantage, one minute until the end of the first quarter (19-18). Tough bucket from Reynolds and FC Bayern Munich got the score to 19-22 at the end of the first quarter.
Vezenkov with the floater opened the score for Olympiacos in the second quarter, with Reynolds showing his range of shots early in the game (21-24). The hosts run a 5-0 score with Vassilis Spanoulis putting up his team by one, forcing Bayern Munich to a time out (53-24). Seeley with his second triple of the night, stopped Olympiacos’ run to put Bayern up by two, with Radosevic extending it to a 4-point lead (25-29). Kostas Sloukas on the other end fired the triple to make it a single point game right before Seeley knocks down another three pointer for Bayern Munich (28-32). Seeley seemed unstoppable from the perimeter scoring another triple to give the guests their largest lead of the match (28-35) with Kostas Sloukas elevating instantly and helping his team stay close to the score (30-35). Bayern Munich played great defense forcing Olympiacos to the wrong offensive decisions, extending their lead to 9 points (the largest of the match) 2:30 minutes until the end of the first half (33-42). Four free throws from the reds brought the score down to a five point lead for Bayern (37-42), with Seeley comitting his third foul and putting Bayern into some trouble. Vezenkov scored two more free throws for the hosts (39-44), while Octavius Ellis with the impressive dunk and the extra free throw made the game a single possession one right before the end of the first half (42-44). The American center with five points in a row and the steal, tied the game (44-44) on the fast break for Olympiacos, forcing Bayern Munich to a time out. Seeley committed his fourth foul of the match with coach Trinchieri having no other choice than to bench his most effective player so far and to call another time out in just a few seconds. Bayern Munich did manage to score in the last seconds of the first half, stealing the ball and heading to the locker rooms with a two point lead (44-46).
In the third quarter, Kostas Sloukas tied the game with two free throws (46-46), with Olympiacos’ defense putting the guests into some trouble and Sloukas again scoring a very tough bucket at the end of Olympiacos’ possession (48-46). Baldwin registered Bayern’s first points in the second quarter, but Aaron Harrison with his second triple of the match, gave his team a 3-point lead (51-48). Baldwin took it personally in the beginning of the third quarter, completing a three point play, tying the game and getting to 10 personal points (51-51). Reynolds with 12 personal point put his team up by two (53-55) right before he extends it even further with two more (53-57). Hassan Martin ended Bayern’s 4-0 scoring run but Reynolds seemed unstoppable for Bayern doing everything for his team (55-59). Spanoulis scored for three to keep Olympiacos close to the score, while Sloukas managed to tie things up (59-59) for Olympiacos and not let the guests get confident. Harrison from the free throw line put Olympiacos ahead with two points (61-59) with Wade Baldwin committing the turnover on the other end of the court. Spanoulis from downtown scored his first triple of the match giving his team a five point lead (64-59) and the momentum. Beautiful move from Wade Baldwin brought Bayern closer to the score, to end the third quarter with Olympiacos leading by 3 points (64-61).
With the fourth quarter underway, Seeley returned on the court after an entire quarter on the bench and headed to the free throw line scoring two points for the guests (64-63). Octavius Ellis grabbed the offensive rebound and scored two points for Olympiacos to keep that 3-point lead for his team (66-63). Olympiacos stole the ball but couldn’t do anything more after a bad pass from Sloukas. Spanoulis with the step back three, moved to 10 personal points and put his team up by 6 points, forcing coach Trinchieri to a time out (69-63). Olympiacos had the momentum of the match and got their largest lead so far with Sasha Vezenkov firing the long three (73-63). Seeley was keeping his team alive scoring a new career high of 19 points, making the score 75-68, right before Ellis extends it for once more (77-68). With four minutes on the clock and Olympiacos up by seven points (77-70), Bayern had one last chance to get back on the game. Ellis committed the unsportsmanlike foul, Reynolds made both free throws and Bayern had the possession. Gist scored for two taking the score to 77-74 for the hosts. Kostas Sloukas committed the turnover, giving the guests another chance to tie the game or make it a single point one. Of course Seeley couldn’t miss the chance to tie things up at 77 points each but Sasha Vezenkov stopped Bayern’s run with the bucket and the extra free throw (80-77). Octavius Ellis secured the defensive rebound with two minutes to play, with the American center securing an extra possession for his team. Reynolds stole the ball from Spanoulis to score another two personal points while Sloukas on the other end put his team up with three points (82-79). Unbelievable turnover from Wade Baldwin who lost control of the basketball, let the hosts extend their lead with Kostas Sloukas. Seeley kept his team alive with another triple (84-82) and 2 second on the clock remaining. Zipser missed the three pointer and Olympiacos secured an 84-82 win.
