Olympiacos edges Madrid 78-76 to stay alive

The two-time defending Turkish Airlines Euroleague champions live to fight another day after Olympiacos Piraeus survived an absolute cliff-hanger 78-76 against Real Madrid thanks to 2 free throws by Kostas Sloukas with 6 seconds left. Madrid, which leads the series 2-1, rallied from 11 behind to lead 73-74 with 44 seconds left, but Georgios Printezis answered with a three-pointer that tipped the balance. Bryant Dunston led the winners with 21 points, 9 rebounds. Vassilis Spanoulis scored 17, Brent Petway and Matt Lojeski 11 each. Sergio Rodriguez had 19 points and Rudy Fernandez 18 for Madrid. Sergio Llull added 16 points and Felipe Reyes 13 for the guests. Game 3 will be Wednesday in Piraeus. A sellout crowd of 11,500 at Peace and Friendship saw Olympiacos find an early go-to guy in Dunston, who had 11 first-quarter points and got help from Spanoulis and Lojeski to give the hosts a 23-15 lead after 10 minutes. A huge slam in traffic by Lojeski soon boosted Olympiacos's margin to 31-19, although Rodriguez, Fernandez and Llull got Madrid within 45-38 at halftime. Three-pointers by Nikola Mirotic and Fernandez brought Madrid within 49-47 in the third quarter before Lojeski and Dunston stepped up to restore a 65-58 Olympiacos margin after 30 minutes. Rodriguez took over in the fourth quarter and scored in penetration for a 73-74 Madrid lead - its first of the second half - with 44 seconds left. That's when Dunston assisted Georgios Printezis for a three-pointer, after which Kostas Sloukas made 2 free throws with 7.6 seconds left that proved to be the game-winners.