Compared to last year, the double in Bologna would be a good result. By his standards this year, an away win against Virtus would be a great result.

Olympiacos were in control for 35 minutes, but in the end the historic Italian team slowed them down and prevailed in a game 69-67 with Daniel Hackett making the biggest basket of the night and picking up an offensive foul from Thomas Walkup for 15th place EuroLeague- Gameday. Giannoulis Larentzakis missed a crucial three-pointer in the final after Fal Sengelias blocked.

Piraeus fell to 7-8 (5-4 home and 2-4 away), the players made effortless errors, missed many basket shots for another night and did not take advantage of the +12 at halftime. Tomas Walkup had one of his worst performances in an Olympiakos jersey (3 points, 1/6 shooting, 1 assist, 2 fouls in 25 minutes), Kanan-Peters had a combined 2/10 three-pointers and if it weren’t for Fal in the first, Larentzakis in the second half and Milutinov, Virtus probably would have cleared the game earlier. A game that Giorgos Bartzokas expected his team to win one way or another.

Virtus improved to 11:4 (8:1 at home and 3:3 away) and remained alone in second place after Barcelona’s defeat in Berlin. Luca Banki’s team were only beaten by Zalgiris in Bologna and the impressive thing is that they knocked Olympiakos to the ground while Belinelli and Sengelia combined for 18 points from 5/17 shooting. Daniel Hackett was the highlight as he also had the game-winning shot and took it right after Walkup’s offensive foul, Isaiah Cordinier was great in the first period.

The MVP

Daniel Hackett was and is a great player. Against his former team, he played 25 minutes, scored eight points (2/5 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 1/2 field goals), made the game-winning basket from mid-range and marked Thomas’ offense Walkup from foul, collected four rebounds, shared six assists, one steal and no errors. Economical, efficient, moderate.

The weak link

Thomas Walkup experienced a nightmarish night in Bologna. He had three points from 1/4 2-pointers, 0/2 3-pointers and one shot, had an assist on two turnovers, had a missed layup, a bad pass and committed the offensive foul with the score at 69- 67. Nothing came of it, his frustration was clear from the moment he missed a layup towards the end of the first half.

The statistics that stood out

Virtus finished the first period with 3/12 two-point shots, Olympiacos finished with 7/8 two-point shots and 0/7 three-point shots. The Bologna team had 5/25 two-point shots at halftime and only six assists, but in the second half they had 11/17 two-point shots and in the final of the evening they held Olympiakos to 7/29 three-point shots. Throws. 2:0 points from surprise, 14:7 points from opponent’s mistakes, 13:12 points from second chances.

The race

Since Fal had no opponent at the start (6 points, 2/2 2-points, 2/2 shots, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Olympiacos started the game impressively (7-14 in 5 minutes), but was hopelessly off target Region. The Frenchman was sensational, but Cordinier was on fire for Virtus, he kept them going and a goal foul by Lundberg at the end of the period reduced the difference in the basket (17-19).

Piraeus started the second quarter with a 0-8 series and with the first three points from the hands of Larentzakis-Brazdeikis they went to +10 and put a lot of pressure on the home team. Bartzokas got a lot from Petrusev, saw that his team had energy in the backcourt and Virtus finished the first half with 5/25 two-point shots (!), which was a truly extreme performance.

The Italians came out of the game furious in the second half, going on a 12-5 run in four minutes to cut the lead to five. At this point, Kanan scored a crucial shot that gave his team a breather. It was the shot that kept Virtus at bay and Banky looked for a small shot from Sengelia but only found it towards the end of the third period.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the match became a rodeo. Larentzakis made a big three-pointer to make it 53:60, Banki was given a technical penalty in the 33rd minute, Milutinov was accused of unsportsmanlike conduct in the 35th minute and Dobrich shot a three-pointer immediately afterwards to make it 60:62. The thriller was before our eyes, Hackett scored to make it 69:67 and received an offensive foul from a walkup, and while Fal Sengelia was nullifying, Larentzakis’ beautiful three-pointer hit the iron.

THE REFEREES: Yavor, Peruga, Nedovic

THE DECADES: 17-19, 28-40, 47-55, 69-67

Virtuous Bologna (Banksy): Cordinier 13 (2/5 2-points, 2/3 3-points, 3/3 shots, 3 rebounds), Lundberg 5 (2/8 shots), Belinelli 12 (2/8 2-points, 2 /4 3-points, 2/3 shots), Paiola 3 (1), Dobrich 10 (2/3 2-points, 2/4 3-points), Keikok 7 (3/4 2-points), Sengelia 6 ( 1/5 2-pointers, 0/2 3-pointers, 4/4 shots, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers), Hackett 8 (2/5 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 1/2 shots , 4 rebounds, 6 assists), Polonara 2, Dunston 3, Abbas

OLYMPIC (Barzokas): Walkup 3 (1/4 2-pointers, 0/2 3-pointers, 1/2 shots, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers), Williams-Goss 2 (1/ 6 shots, 7 assists), Kanan 6 (0/3 two-pointers, 2/6 three-pointers), Larentzakis 13 (1/1 two-pointers, 3/6 three-pointers, 2/4 shots), Fal 12 (5/5 2-pointers, 2/2 shots, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks), Papanikolaou 5 (1 3-pointer, 4 rebounds), Brazdeikis 5 (1/3 2-pointer, 1/3 3-pointer, 4 rebounds), Peters 7 (3/5 2-pointers, 0/4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), Petrusev 4 (2/3 2-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Milutinov 10 (2/3 2-pointers, 11 rebounds), McKissick

Virtus Bologna team statistics: 16/42 2-pointers, 8/21 3-pointers, 13/16 shots, 36 rebounds (24 defensive – 12 offensive), 16 assists, 5 steals, 9 turnovers, 19 fouls

Olympiakos team statistics: 17/30 2-pointers, 7/29 3-pointers, 12/16 shots, 38 rebounds (28 defensive – 10 offensive), 20 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks, 11 turnovers

The next games of the two teams: On matchday 16, Virtus plays in Valencia (December 21st, 9:30 p.m.), while Olympiacos plays away against Villeurbanne (December 22nd, 8:45 p.m.).