Olympiakos Piraeus defeated Real Madrid 100-88 with a dominant second-half display late Sunday to win Europe’s premier basketball trophy for the second year running.
Inspired by a vocal travelling support in London, Olympiakos battled back from 27-10 down after the first quarter of the Euroleague final to take the lead early in the second half. They rarely looked threatened, shooting 39 points in the fourth quarter to clinch their third Euro-league title 100-88.
The win was in a stark contrast to last year when it took a game-winning shot from Georgios Printezis at the buzzer to overcome CSKA Moscow.
Having defeated much-fancied CSKA again in Friday’s semi-final, the Greeks started slowly on Sunday and struggled against Madrid’s sharp shooting in the first quarter.
But Olympiakos’s trademark ironclad defence soon kicked in, allowing eight-times champions Madrid just 14 points in the second quarter and 20 in the third as Kyle Hines and Pero Antic muscled out the Spanish forwards inside the paint.
Also on Sunday, Barcelona’s Marcelinho Huertas missed a potentially game-winning shot at the buzzer, letting CSKA hold on for a 74-73 victory in the league’s third place play-off.