Olympiacos overcome Iraklis' seven-man squad, Papanikolaou racks up season-high / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Olympiacos Piraeus (14-1) played as much as it was required to down greatly shorthanded and bottom-placed Iraklis (3-12) 94-65 (20-14, 18-19, 23-17, 33-15) at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Olympiakos Piraeus / Schedule

Olympiakos Piraeus Zenit Saint PetersburgTue19:00 ALBA Berlin Olympiakos Piraeus90-75 Zalgiris Kaunas Olympiakos PiraeusTue18:00 Olympiakos Piraeus Panathinaikos AthensThu19:00

The team from Thessaloniki came to Athens to face the Reds having four players down with flu, another one with injury, and two COVID cases. Their request for suspension of the game was denied by the Greek League, as the organizing authority replied that there are no grounds for postponement according to the updated Health and Safety protocol. A team must present at least four confirmed COVID cases for a game to be suspended.

As a result, Iraklis and coach Kostas Mexas only had five members of the first team at disposal, plus two teenagers: 16-year-old Panagiotis Argyroulis and 15-year-old Giannis Komnianidis.

Although the hosts started the game well, leading 20-14 in the first quarter and 28-19 behind 10 points by Kostas Papanikolaou at the beginning of the second one, Iraklis picked up. The guests made a quick 0-8 run in 95 seconds, closing the gap and taking advantage of the Reds' low three-point percentage (5/17) in the first half.

Iraklis stayed close until the 27nd minute (52-48), largely thanks to an 8-point scoring streak by Antonio Woods. From that point on, Olympiacos went off on a huge partial score of 42-17 that lead them to an easy win.

Kostas Papanikolaou scored a season-high 21 points on 6/9 from the field, while coach Giorgos Bartzokas saw three more players (Giorgos Printezis, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Tyler Dorsey) put up double-digit numbers. Olympiacos made 23 steals, a new all-time high while scoring 44 points off their opponent's turnovers and another 36 on fast-break.

On the other side, Iraklis made 31 turnovers, most of them in the last 12 minutes. Brandon Garrett scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a losing effort, while Mike Henry added 19.

Olympiacos will be facing Zalgiris in Kaunas on Tuesday and Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in Piraeus on Thursday.

Olympiacos: Kostas Papanikolaou 21 (6/9 FG, 4/4 FT, 5 AST, 5 TO), Giorgos Printezis 15 (6/9 FG, 2/2 FT, 4 AST), Giannoulis Larentzakis 12 (4/7 FG, 3 REB, 4 AST), Tyler Dorsey 11 (5/8 FG, 0/1 FT, 2 ST), Hassan Martin 8.

Iraklis: Brandon Garrett 20 (7/11 FG, 6/9 FT, 10 REB, 5 TO), Mike Henry 19 (8/17 FG, 4 REB), Antonio Woods 11 (4/14 FG, 3/3 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 4 TO).

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