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Olympiacos loses first tournament of the season

Olympiacos BC is one of Europe`s richest clubs. With the European Cup Final Four to be played in Greece this year, the team owners opened their wallets this summer and acquired almost every attractive free agent in the continent, two NBA veterans, and a new coach. Their declared goal is to win all the titles they will compete for this season. Needless to say, what happened on Wednesday night is not included in the plans.

The team`s first official game at the 20,000 seat Peace and Friendship Arena in Piraeus was held with no audience. Olympiacos hosted their city rivals, Panathinaikos, in front of empty stands due to a penalty they carry from last year. After 40 minutes, Panathinaikos won the Athens derby 79-71 and knocked Olympiacos out of the Greek Cup.

Olympiacos relied mostly on Sofoklis `Baby Shaq` Schortsanitis, in the first half, who led his team on a 10-0 run before the half. Olympiacos led 39-35 after 20 minutes. Panathinaikos put the ball in the hands of Becirovic and Diamantidis in the second half, and with three minutes to go, opened up a six-point lead on a three-point play from Tomasevic, to put the game out of reach. Becirovic had 18 points for the winners, Dejan Tomasevic, followed with 14 points.