MBC Odessa 80 - Telestet Maroussi Athens 86

Maroussi translated some of their Greek League success (where they are undefeated) to the FIBA Europe League tonight, with an 86:80 road win over Odessa.

Straight from the beginning it seemed, that it would be very difficult for the home team and they only scored their first basket of the evening after 4 minutes.

Thanks to Roderick Blakney, Maroussi began to increase their advantage. But after an Edmunds Valeiko 3-pointer, Odessa found their feet and began to look more comfortable.

Furthermore Yaroslav Zubrytskyy and Vladimir Antsiferov put the shackles on Ivan Grgat inside, and Denis Ivanov was successfully able to attack the opponents’ basket twice.

But when Blakney appeared reappared on the floor, Maroussi went ahead again.

After the break Georgios Karagkoutis began to assert his influence on the game. In addition to that Odessa made one mistake after the other.

In spite of the titanic efforts of the hosts, the more experienced opponents won.

Game MVP: Georgios Karagkoutis

Quotes MBC Odessa - Telestet Maroussi Athens

Panagiotis Giannakis, Head Coach Maroussi:

"We watched three games of Odessa. Our task was to control their actions in the zone. I think we did it right."

Tsiakos Georgios, Maroussi:

"Our flight was very tiring, but we had to win! We tried to stay cool, but sometimes it did not work. But we were able do what we planned."

Varonin Valyantsin, Head Coach MBC Odessa:

"Maroussi is an experienced team. Their playmakers are very strong, but our own mistakes were more decisive."