Olympiakos crushes Galatasaray 72-54 in game marred by brawl
PIRAEUS
Mensah-Bonsu, Begic and Printezis were all ejected from the game after the last-quarter brawl. AA photo
Defending Turkish champions Galatasaray Liv Hospital were overpowered by the Euroleague title-holders Olympiakos Piraeus on Nov. 28 in a game that was overshadowed by a brawl in the fourth quarter, with the referee disqualifying three players.Galatasaray Liv Hospital’s rooster, as inauspiciously suggested by the name of its sponsor, had turned into an infirmary as the Istanbul side travelled to Greece without a numder of its key players, including Nathan Jawai, Jamond Gordon, Ersin Dağlı and Manuchar Markoishvili.
Led by Vassilis Spanoulis and Bryant Dunston, the Greeks took the game under control almost immediately, inflicting an 8-0 run to finish the first quarter eight points ahead at 18-10. After a balanced second quarter, during which Spanoulis scored his 200th three-pointer in the Euroleague, Olympiakos stepped up a gear on the third by increasing the gap to 20 points after a 9-0 run.
The gap widened to 26 points with three minutes left, when Galatasaray’s big man Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Olympiakos’ Mirza Begic got into a brawl following a rebound. Georgios Printezis also joined the fistfight, laboriously dissipated by the referees with the help of Carlos Arroyo and Spanoulis. Mensah-Bonsu, Begic and Printezis were all ejected from the game. The last few minutes allowed Galatasaray to bring the final score under 20 points while Olympiakos cruised for its seventh victory in as many games.
Galatasaray drops to 4-3 but remains second with hopes of qualifying for the next stage still intact.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid also stayed undefeated after destroying Brose Basket in a 89-69 road win. The last remaining undefeated team, Fenerbahçe Ülker, will travel to Spain in a huge test to preserve its hundred percent record against Barcelona on Nov. 28.
The other Istanbul side in the competition, Efes Anadolu, will host Strasbourg also on Nov. 28.