Olympiacos hoists Rixos Cup after OT Thriller
Not only did it take an extra session to determine a winner in the Rixos Cup on Friday, it also took a last second shot to force the OT frame and a last second shot to win the contest. In both cases the two-time defending Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus was benefitting from the last-second heroics as they came away with an 87:86 win over Besiktas to take the pre-season Rixos Cup in Istanbul, Turkey.
In the preliminary contests, Budivelnik defeated Fenerbahce 86:78 to earn fifth place and Anadolu Efes ran over Zalgiris Kaunas 94:65 to pick up third place honors.
Olympiacos – Besiktas, 87:86
Besiktas outscored Olympiacos in each of the first three quarters, building up a six-point lead heading into the final frame, only to have Olympiacos put together a 27:21 last 10 that included a last second shot to send the contest into the extra frame.
As can be expected in a pre-season tournament, the teams aren’t quite ready for the Euroleague to start as they both committed numerous turnovers and the play was generally a bit ragged, but what the game might have lacked in overall quality of play, it more than made up for in overall excitement.
Besiktas came out of the first frame with a slight 13:12 advantage, and added another two to that to head into the dressing room with a four-point advantage at the mid-game intermission, 33:30.
Playing in their home arena, Besiktas padded their small margin with an additional three to set up the final frame with the host club up 57:51.
In the final 10 Olympiacos pulled ahead, 68:65, but Besiktas countered with 7:0 run to get up by four, 72:68. A three-ball brought Olympiacos to within a point and a split pair of singles gave Besiktas a two-point lead with seconds on the clock. Cedric Simmons dropped in a layup with time expiring to send the contest into the OT period. The extra frame came down to what seemed a sure thing for Besiktas as they had the possession with 12 seconds left and a 86:85 advantage. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the ball in due to blanket defense by Olympiacos. With the ball and plenty of time on the clock, Olympiacos drafted a plan and got Matt Lojeski the ball for a final shot, which sliced the cords for a one-point win for the Greek side.
Olympiacos’ Kostas Sloukas was named the tournament MVP.
Beşiktaş İntegral Forex: Muratcan Güler 9, Lofton 32, Caner Topaloğlu 5, Buckman 14, Iverson 9, Ruzic 2, Kartal Özmızrak 3, Gökhan Şirin 2, Foster 5, Broekhoff 5
Olympiakos: Sloukas 17, Papapetrou, Mantzaris 1, Petway 6, Simmons 14, Lojeski 15, Dunston 8, Perperoglou 7, Printezis 11, Law 4, Agravanis 4