Olympiacos catches fire to earn 85-92 win at Valencia

Turkish Airlines Euroleague leader Olympiacos Piraeus produced a vintage second-half performance in a 85-92 road win against Valencia Basket after veteran Kostas Papanikolau tied his career high of 22 points, with the Greek side improving its record to 18-7.
Sasha Vezenkov racked up 20 points and 7 rebounds after a quiet first half, while Thomas Walkup netted 13 points, all of which came in the third quarter. Shaquielle McKissic added 11 points for Olympiacos, too. Kostas Sloukas produced a solid performance on his return to action from injury, posting 10 points and 9 assists for the visitors.
Klemen Prepelic paced Valencia with 21 points, shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from inside the arc. James Webb III had 14 points and Jared Harper 11 for the home side, but Chris Jones managed only 5 as Valencia dropped to 13-12.
The hosts made a flying start and raced into a 15-point lead, 25-10, late in the first quarter, with Vezenkov subdued and the home side nailing their shots from all around at the other end. Olympiacos replied with a 0-15 run to draw level 25-25, but was soon trailing by 15 points again, 45-30, as Valencia was lethal from long range.
With most of the visiting team’s options misfiring in the first half, Olympiacos relied on Papanikolau to keep the Greek side afloat as the forward scored 13 first-half points.
Prepelic sank 5 straight points early in the third quarter to fire Valencia 50-37 ahead, before Walkup and Vezenkov ignited a 2-20 Olympiacos run which turned the tide. Valencia never recovered from that blow and Vezenkov, who looked totally subdued in the first half, suddenly started hitting his shots from all angles.
Olympiacos ruthlessly took advantage of the home team’s dip. The depth of its roster was everywhere to be seen in the final 10 minutes as the more resourceful visitors built an insurmountable 60-73 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Three-point heroics by Prepelic had briefly rekindled Valencia’s hopes of forcing a final twist, but there was no way back after Papanikolau nailed a triple to make it 78-88 to the visitors, clenching his fists in delight as he silenced the vocal home crowd.
The home team still refuse to roll over and fought until the end, but Olympiacos held out comfortably in the last two minutes.