Olympiakos edged Barcelona 105-100 in overtime at the Palau Blaugrana on Thursday, with Senegalese forward Mbaye Ndiaye delivering the decisive burst. Trailing late after Justin Robinson's triple forced an extra period, the Greek side responded with an 11-0 run to close out the contest.
Coming off the bench, Ndiaye scored six consecutive points in the opening two minutes of overtime and added a block to ignite the decisive spurt before Jean Montero tacked on five more points. The 27 PIR outing underlined a rapid rise for the former ASVEL talent, who had previously posted 29 PIR against Bologna earlier this season.
Ndiaye finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 24 minutes. Speaking to EuroLeague TV, reigning MVP Sasha Vezenkov paid tribute to the Senegalese wing's all-round performance.
"[Mbaye Ndiaye] est incroyable ! Beaucoup de gens n'ont peut-être pas vu son talent et ses qualités car il jouait à l'ASVEL. Seuls les connaisseurs de basket peuvent comprendre ce qu'il fait sur le terrain, mais ce qu'il apporte et ce qu'il fait chaque nuit est exceptionnel. C'est un joueur formidable."
With a fifth win in six EuroLeague rounds — five of those on the road — defending champions Olympiakos pulled level with Panathinaikos at the top of the standings.
