Olympiacos plows through Trikalla, keeps lead

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Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus continued their assertion of dominance over the rest of the Greek A1 league with an impressive 84-52 win at home against Aries Trikalla BC. The victory puts them at 18 wins in 19 rounds of regular season action and with it they retain league leadership of the standings. Effectively sharing the lead with Olympiacos is Panathinaikos Athens, which also came away with its own win against Arkadikos, 90-69. Both clubs have been tearing it up all season long and sport identical 18-1 slates. Both teams have been playing at a high level and a great divide has been formed in the domestic Greek A1 league. There’s the pair of elite and dominant teams in Olypiacos and Panathinaikos, and then the rest of the “herd”.

Olympiacos vs. Trikalla, 84-52

The home team got their offense running right from the get-go. The red and white shirts quickly established control of the game and surged to a 23-8 first quarter lead. Trikalla was backpedaling from the onset and did very little to get on track.

Olympiacos’ D.J. Strawberry had his way with Trikalla’s defense and exploded for a game-high 21 points. He got hot from downtown and accounted for half of the team’s made shots from three-point range. His five treys were smoothly complemented by the five dimes he was able to dish out. The key factor in the outcome of this game boiled down to turnovers. Trikalla couldn’t take care of the ball well enough. They committed 21 turnovers, compared to Olympiacos’ 13.

Brandon Brown led Trikalla with 15 points, but the American struggled terribly at the free-throw line, missing all seven of his attempts. Trikalla was a dismal 4-of-15 from the line, unlike Olympiacos which made full use of their opportunities to score free points. They sank 20-of-27 of their shots.

Panathinaikos vs. Arkadikos, 90-69

Co-league leader Panathinaikos came up with a similarly convincing result in their game in Round 19. The cruised to what ended up as an easy win over Arkadikos. James Feldeine and Vladimir Jankovic each scored 15 points for Panathinaikos as they led three other teammates in double figures. Panathinaikos dominated this contest all throughout and despite some spirited play by Arkadikos in the third frame, the home team ended being just too much for them to handle.

Once again, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos dominate their respective opponents. Both teams are now heavily favored to go deep into the league playoffs this season.