Marko Banic stars as Bizkaia Bilbao Basket beat Olympiacos 76-61: Euroleague Basketball Recap
Bizkaia Bilbao Basket used the home court advantage and a vociferous crowd support to overcome visiting Olympiacos 76-61 on Friday night in their first match of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague that took place in the Bilbao Arena.
The game was a treat for fans that showed up in numbers to support their local team as Bilbao dictated the terms from the start to the very end. Although Olympiacos remained in the hunt throughout the game, but, they never managed
to get ahead of Bilbao at any instance.
Marko Banic was the highlight of the night ending the night for Bilbao with a game high 22 points and 5 rebounds on a near-perfect 7 for 9 two point shooting.
Marco was supported well from his team mates. D’OR Fischer missing a double-double by only a whisker, finishing with 16 points and 8 rebounds while Aaron Jackson also chipped in with valuable 11 points and 5 assists.
A psyched Bilbao’s coach was all praise for his players after the game;
“We dominated in all statistical aspects. Marko Banic and D'or Fischer did a great job, but also players like Josh Fisher, Roger Grimau and Alex Mumbru, just to name a few. It was hard for us to believe that we were in the Euroleague,
but this is it, we realized it and beat one of the great teams in the competition, which is always a plus. Our fight continues in the next games, but we are very motivated."
From Olympiacos side, Martynas Gecevicius and Kyle Hines were the most impressive players finishing with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Both teams were pointless for first two minutes of the game, courtesy some tight defense from both sides. It was Mumbru Alex from Bilbao who started the proceedings by scoring from a free throw and by the 9th minute
of the first quarter, both teams were almost neck to neck. However a two pointer from Fischer and later a three by Mumbru ensured Bilbao entered the second quarter with a healthy lead 18-11.
The second quarter started well for Olympiacos as they managed to constitute a 6-2 run and in doing so reduced the deficit to 3 points 20-17. However, Bilbao kept on scoring and at the end of the first half, the score was 37-31
in favour of Bilbao.
Olympiacos kept Bilbao scoreless for first 4 minutes of the third quarter and edged closer to Bilbao through a 6-2 burst. However Janis Blums first slipped in two free throws and then followed with a three-pointer to open the game
up. What followed were three consecutive two-pointers by Marko which allowed Bilbao to build on a decisive lead. By the end of the third quarter, Bilbao was way ahead at 60-49.
With a comfortable lead at hand, Bilbao shored up their defence in the final 10 minutes, reducing Olympiacos to only 12 points, enroute to a 76-61 win.
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