Mfiondu Kabengele ended the game on 21 points and a personal-best 14 rebounds as the hosts grabbed their ninth home victory
Dubai suffocates Olympiacos in overtime for another home win
Spielbericht
3 Lesezeit
Regular Season
Round 26 of 38
Regular Season
Dubai BasketballDUB
10898
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
Overview
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Dubai Basketball proved again that it’s a different beast at home in its inaugural EuroLeague campaign. The Coca-Cola Arena has maintained its reputation as a tough place to visit, with the hosts defeating Olympiacos Piraeus 108-98 after what was the club's first-ever overtime in the competition.
Only two teams have managed to come out victorious from Dubai’s home court, where Jurica Golemac’s side downed one of the hottest teams in the league. In fact, Olympiacos came into Tuesday’s duel on the back of a five-game winning run, but Dubai demonstrated from the off that it would have none of it.
The hosts hit the ground running with a 9-2 charge that was canceled out by a 0-7 surge from the Reds. Aleksa Avramovic scored eight first-quarter points, with his team securing a 26-17 lead after 10 minutes.
Dubai didn’t take its foot off the gas, with the Serbian guard taking his tally to 15 points for a 52-40 lead at halftime. Avramovic delivered on both ends, recording four of Dubai’s six steals in the first half, when the hosts forced Olympiacos into 10 turnovers, which led to 13 points in transition.
The visitors bounced back in the third quarter and went on a 0-10 run that cut the difference to 74-70 heading into the fourth. The game turned into a back-and-forth affair, with Dubai maintaining the lead heading into crunch time. Mfiondu Kabengele remained calm from the charity stripe and hit two free throws with just three seconds left, but Evan Fournier drilled a triple to make it 95-95, sending the game to overtime.
“They scored this three-pointer, we went to overtime, but the team showed their character and fans didn’t give up on us,” Golemac told EuroLeague TV. “We got into overtime with just one thought: to win the game.”
And win it they did. Riding on their momentum, the visitors nailed an open triple through Thomas Walkup, but Dubai tightened up its defense, holding Olympiacos scoreless for the remainder of overtime. A 13-0 run fueled by Kabengele, McKinley Wright and Dwayne Bacon saw Dubai crush the Reds, clinching a victory to open the double-round week in style.
“Physical game,” Kabengele admitted after the final buzzer. “[Olympiacos is a] great team, well coached. We just knew we had to become physical, made it difficult for them every single shot. Halt their rhythm, rebound the ball, turn the ball over less. And we did that over the course of the game, which is why we were able to stay in it.”
Kabengele ended the duel on 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, with Bacon also scoring 21 and picking up 7 boards. Avramovic bagged a season-high 17 points and Wright paired his 18 points with a team-high 7 assists.
Having bounced back from last week’s loss away at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, Dubai will look to double its wins by defeating Real Madrid on Thursday. And given their home form this season, Golemac’s men look more than capable of completing a perfect double-round week against another EuroLeague powerhouse.
