Miller-McIntyre Leads Short-Handed Olympiacos Past Vikos 79-68

By Taki Panos

Ioannina waited a long time for this one, and for three quarters Vikos Falcons made sure Olympiacos felt it. The Reds won 79-68 in Epirus on Sunday in round 3 of the Greek Basket League, Gazzetta reported, but a tired and short-handed squad needed Codi Miller-McIntyre to close the door. The guard finished with 17 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals in 32 minutes, per SDNA, and his back-to-back threes late in the fourth quarter were the moment the home side's upset bid finally ran out of air.

For anyone new to the story, this was a big day for basketball in Epirus. It was Vikos's first game in front of their own fans this season and the first top-flight home game in the history of the Ioannina region, Eurohoops noted, while the local paper Ipeirotikos Agon had billed it as a historic first. Olympiacos, meanwhile, arrived straight from a brutal week in Spain, where they came back from 28 down to beat Valencia and then won again in Barcelona, both in overtime. Coach Giorgos Bartzokas said the team only got back at 7 on Saturday morning, per ERT Sports.

The travelling party was thin. Olympiacos had just 11 players available, with Jean Montero and Evan Fournier left out and Tyler Dorsey still not in the picture, Gazzetta reported, and NewsIT listed the same absences before tip-off. Dorsey's situation is a story of its own (here is why he was dropped from the Barcelona trip). That opened minutes for young players like Bourneles and Papas, who, Eurohoops noted, needed time to find their rhythm. With some players lining up together for the first time, as Bartzokas put it afterwards, a slow start was almost guaranteed.

And slow it was. Nikola Milutinov scored first, but Karakostas answered with a three for Vikos's first lead at 3-2, Sport24 reported. The home side hit their first four threes, SDNA noted, and a run built on that shooting gave them a 16-11 lead around the fifth minute. Agravanis added another three for 21-17, and Vikos closed the first quarter ahead 23-21, per both Gazzetta and Sport24. Olympiacos looked exactly like a team that had spent the week on planes and in overtime.

The second quarter is where Olympiacos found their feet, even without their shot. Ndiaye scored six straight points to tie it at 27-27, SDNA reported, and a basket from Hall put the visitors in front at 31-33, forcing a Vikos timeout, per Sport24. Then the defence took over. Vikos went about four minutes without a point while Olympiacos ran off a 7-0 burst to lead 36-31, as Gazzetta and SDNA both reported. Omiros Netzipoglou scored the last four points of the half, and Olympiacos went in up 39-36 despite going just 2 of 10 from three, according to Sport24.

The third quarter decided it. Tyson Ward opened the second half with a basket, Sasha Vezenkov stretched it to 43-37, and Netzipoglou gave Olympiacos their first double-digit lead at 47-37, Sport24 reported. Ward then hit two threes in a row, SDNA said, and a 19-5 run pushed the lead to 58-41, per Eurohoops. Jordan Floyd kept Vikos breathing almost on his own, scoring every Vikos point of the quarter until it was 58-45, according to SDNA. Olympiacos led 64-51 after three, per Gazzetta, and it looked like a quiet finish was coming.

It was not. Vikos opened the fourth with a quick 4-0 run, a Pozoglou three cut it to 65-58, and Olympiacos managed just one point in three minutes, SDNA reported. Ndiaye steadied things with a three for 68-58, but Justice scored four points in a row to bring Vikos within 70-65 with about three minutes left, per Gazzetta and Eurohoops. Honestly, the upset was right there.

That is when Miller-McIntyre took over. He hit a three for 73-65, then another for 76-65, SDNA reported, and Olympiacos went on a 9-0 run that made it 79-65 before Vikos added the final three points, according to Gazzetta. Eurohoops described those two threes as the shots that ended Vikos's dream of a historic comeback. On a day when Montero and Fournier were missing, the new guard carried the creative load from start to finish.

He had help. Vezenkov, fresh off being named EuroLeague Round 6 MVP, added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Ndiaye had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Sport24 and SDNA reported. Netzipoglou scored 11 and Milutinov 10 with 6 rebounds. Olympiacos also moved the ball well, with 22 assists to Vikos's 12, per Sport24's team numbers. For the hosts, Floyd led everyone with 18 points and went 10 of 10 from the free-throw line, Justice added 12, and McNair had 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Bartzokas was honest afterwards. "We wanted to play and for nobody to get hurt. We played after two overtimes. Seven or eight players did not come here, and others were playing together for the first time. The goal was to win," he said, per ERT Sports (translated from Greek). He was generous to the hosts too: "Vikos played an amazing game, congratulations, and also for the conditions at the arena, which are very good for basketball." On Montero, he said the guard was due for an MRI but that nobody has anything serious. "We are not complaining. This is the situation with the schedule. There are no excuses."

My take: this is the kind of win that never makes a highlight reel and still matters in May. Olympiacos are 3-0 in the league, just like Panathinaikos, who beat Peristeri earlier on Sunday, and they got there with two of their best scorers in street clothes. The worry is the shooting, 8 of 23 from three per Sport24, and a fourth quarter where the focus drifted. The positive is Miller-McIntyre. If he can run the offense like this whenever Montero sits, Bartzokas has a real answer for a long winter. And credit to Vikos. They will win games in that building.

Next up, Olympiacos host Fenerbahce in the EuroLeague on Friday night, SDNA and ERT Sports reported, with Bartzokas saying Montero should be ready to play. Back in the GBL, they visit Promitheas in Patras on Sunday, October 25, at 13:00 Athens time, while Vikos travel to Rhodes to face Kolossos at the same hour, per Sport24. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for all of it. Tired legs, full marks.

Sources: Gazzetta, Sport24, SDNA, Eurohoops, ERT Sports, NewsIT, Ipeirotikos Agon.

Image: Olympiacos crest, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).