Olympiakos takes the Greek crown for the first time in six years

Olympiacos Piraeus is the new Greek League champion after beating Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 93-74 to sweep their best-of-five finals series on Friday. It is the 13th Greek League crown for Olympiacos and its first since 2016.

The game was also the last in the career of legendary Olympiacos team captain Georgios Printezis, who retired after lifting the trophy. Panathinaikos guard Nemanja Nedovic scored 16 points in the game’s first 12 minutes as the teams traded blows before Olympiacos took control with a 23-3 second-quarter blast. Giannoulis Larentzakis hit a three-pointer and Sasha Vezenkov a pair of baskets in an 11-0 run, and after a triple from Howard Sant-Roos, a pair of triples from Kostas Sloukas and as many close-range baskets from Livio Jean-Charles during a 12-0 run opened a 55-38 lead in the last minute of the first half. Vezenkov’s triple made it 63-44 midway through the third quarter, but Panathinaikos was not going away just yet as Nedovic fueled a 0-9 run to finish the third quarter 63-53. Sloukas hit back-to-back triples early in the fourth before a dunk, and a layup from Shaquielle McKissic made it 73-56 as the Reds were well on their way to a title-clinching victory. Vezenkov led the winners with 25 points on a 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Sloukas had 14 points, while McKissic and Kostas Papanikolaou scored ten apiece. Printezis, honored after the game with his teammates wearing championship t-shirts with his name and number on them, lifted the trophy for one last time in his remarkable career. For Panathinaikos, Nedovic netted 23 points, Georgios Papagiannis collected 15 points plus ten rebounds, and Eleftherios Bochoridis scored 10.