Olympiacos improved its chances to make it
to the Top 16 in difficult Group A by thrashing already qualified Bennet
Cantu 86-61 in the Pireaus, Greece on Thursday. Olympiacos and Cantu
joined Caja Laboral and Fenerbahce Ulker in a four-way tie for first
place, each with a 5-4 record.
Olympiacos will get to the Top 16 if it
beats already eliminated Nancy on the road but could also got through
with loss depending on other results. Cantu can rank anywhere from first
to fourth in regular season Group 10. Vassilis Spanoulis led the
winners with 22 points. Georgios Printezis added 16, Kyle Hines had 12
while Lazaros Papadopoulos got 10 for Olympiacos. Vladimir Micov led
Cantu with 17 points. A three-pointer by Gianluca Basile gave Cantu a
9-12 margin midway through the first quarter but Spanoulis and Hines
fueled an 11-0 run that allowed Olympiacos to get a 20-12 lead after 11
minutes. Denis Marconato, Micov and Nico Gianella allowed Cantu to
regain a 26-27 edge late in the first half. It didn't last long,
however, as Printezis and Spanoulis fueled a game-changing 18-2 run that
bridged between both halves to give the Reds a 44-29 margin. Nothing
changed from that moment, as the Reds boosted their margin to 72-51
midway through the fourth quarter and never looked back.Watch video
