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Aris BSA grabbed the win against P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki

Konstantinos Velitsikakis

2008-11-17 10:48

Aris BSA grabbed the win against P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki in a great game that took place on Saturday evening. Tough defenses characterise the game, in a great atmosphere of 6.000 Aris' fans.

The first quarter was offensively balanced, as the game of the two teams based on defense and as an example Aris lead P.A.O.K. to 4 turnovers in the first 5 minutes. Non of the two teams could take take the lead in scoring and as a result the first quarter ended by 18-18. During the second quarter P.A.O.K. managed to score 5 points in a row, while Damir Mulaomerovic was the best player of P.A.O.K. till his substitute. P.A.O.K.'s greek big-man, Dimitris Marmarinos was charged with technical foul, changing the rhythm of the game. Anton Gavel, Aris' Slovakian guard, played great defense over Mulaomerovic and with three 3-pt shots from Keydren Clark, Anton Gavel and Sean Marshall, Aris took the lead by 35-31. Mamutu Diarra with 11 points in the first half of the game helped P.A.O.K. stay close to the score, and the first half finished with 44-41 for Aris.

The second half of the game continued in the same pace, while the captain of P.A.O.K., Kostas Vasileiadis -who had a sprained ankle during the week's trainings- with two 3-pt shots gave energy to the black-and-white team. On the other hand, Dimitris Tsaldaris, with 6 points in the row helped Aris to keep the lead in the score by 4 points (63-59). During the last quarter Aris played really tough defense, and with Keydren's Clark astonishing performance in the court managed to grab the win against P.A.O.K. (87-76).

During the press-conference, Vassilis Symtsak noticed:

“It was a really great and tough game, while the two teams were close to the score for 3 quarters. In the last quarter our performance was not as good as before, and with a gaping-time of 2 minutes we gave the advantage to Aris to win the game. Day by day we get better, we are a new team with so many new players, so we have to be patient. It was not a surprise for me to be in the starter-team, because I had to play defense over Nelson.”

As for Keydren Clark, he stated:

“It was a good game in a great atmosphere, I am happy for winning the game and also because I had the chance to play in front of a such great crowd like Aris' crowd is. P.A.O.K. is a tough team and as for my personal performance I scored two important 3-pt shots, but I have to mention that my teammates really helped me while I was at the bench, because I did not start the game as I wanted. Finally, the team needed me, so I took the chance and scored.”

Also, coach Argyris Pedoulakis stated:

“It was a strong game in an incredible atmosphere. We managed to control the game in the way we wanted and managed to be close to the score 5 minutes till the end of the game. Aris found solutions in his offensive game with some difficult shots, and on the other hand we lost some easy lay-ups and free throws. We are getting better, but at the moment Aris has better playing rhythm than we have. I am glad because Damir (Mulaomerovic) will help us during the season in our creative game, but we have to search for a player to help K'Zell Wesson near the low-post. As for Dejan Tomasevic and Alexis Kyritsis, my personal opinion is that each and every player is part of the team.”

Finally, coach Andrea Mazzon noticed:

“It was a great game in a great atmosphere. Both teams fought for the win and I have to admit that P.A.O.K. managed to play better than us in front of this crowd. I am thankful for the fans, because their attitude was fantastic, without any element of violence and I hope that they will continue helping us like this. As for the referees, they were also great, they did a very good work in the court. I am happy because five of my players had double-figures and as a team we managed to stay calm and not make many turnovers. We started our game very tight, but the guys from the bench helped us a lot. We have to continue our effort and we have to cover some physical problems for the next game. My saying is, basketball is always tomorrow.”