Kolossos Rhodes- K.A.O.Dramas
Kolossos was superior and got two more points beating KAOD. The home team got an early lead 23-16 at the end of the first period and maintained it throughout the match. They even stretched it to 49-32 at halftime.
A defensive breakdown at the restart of the game allowed KAOD to reduce the margin to 66-57, having a shot at the closing quarter but their bad shooting totals did not allow them to become a bigger threat. Waters was the MVP of the game with 19 points and 8 assists and on the other side Harris had 16.
A.E.K.- P.A.O.K. 85-93
PAOK escaped OAKA since they played as a team in offense, found the open shots and secured the 3rd position of the regular season. Despite the visitor’s explosive start (18-23 after 10’), AEK balanced the game and with Scottie Wilbekin in great shape, overtook PAOK to reach the half time leading 42-41.
The high-paced game resumed after the break, with AEK being able to stay in front, helped by Delinikaitis and Hairston while PAOK struggled to hold on. After 3 quarters the score was 68-66 but the last 10 minutes totally belonged to PAOK who had Odom back on the court to dominate the game alongside Langford, while the home side seemed to have ran out of good offensive choices. Carter scored 17 points for the winners
and Langford followed with 16. Wilbekin and Hairston added 16 for AEK but Mensah-Bonsu was negative with only 2 points and 3 turnovers in 25’. Now the defeated side will fight for the 4th spot but it seems to be hard since they are one win behind Aris with one game left.
A.E.N.Kifissias- Koroivos Amaliadas 76-83
Koroivos defeated AENK and kept his hopes up for the final spot of the post-season. They got in the game too anxious, resulting to a 21-13 early lead by AENK and the home side played good defense until the end of the half to secure a 41-29 lead.
The 3rd period belonged to AENK again that kept the point difference to double-digits but surprisingly they seemed to ran out of stamina 2 minutes before the end, allowing the visitors to quickly reduce the gap to 55-52. They struggled to stay in the game but Koroivos stormed past them in the end behind Mudgett’s 23 points and now they must beat Kolossos at home and KAOD must lose to AEK in order to clinch the 8th position that leads to the play-offs.
A.O.Trikala- A.G.O.Rethimno 85-95
In a very nice and high scoring game, AGOR beat Trikala and hopes to get the 4th position of the Greek Basket League. Passive defense cost Trikala a lot since they received 27 points at the end of the first period (22-27), giving Rethimno a small lead they stepped on to reach the half time leading by 1, 46-47.
Bad defense again for the home side which focused on offense but their opponents seemed to find the open shots way easier, and with great shooting totals they created a 64-72 lead. Five players from the visitors scored more than 10 points and as a result, their amazing offensive play gave them the win since Trikala could not match their pace. Kalampokis was the top scorer for the winners with 16 points and on the other side, Ingram and Panos both had 17.
Aris- Olympiacos 58-69
Aris got in front 24-16 after 10 with the help of their fans and taking advantage of Olympiacos’ numb start, mostly in defense. During the second period though, things changed because the “Reds” played like we have used them to, allowed only 14 points and got in the locker rooms trailing 38-36.
Defense was again the way to go after the resume of the game for the visitors who this time got the upper hand since Aris seemed to be locked down on offense, with many missed shots while they could not get the second chance points needed to recover. 49-55 as we headed to the closing quarter where Olympiacos just held on to their lead, expanded it and got the win. The winners only had Sloukas(14p.) and Papapetrou (10p.)with double digits and for Aris, Vezenkov scored 19 but they were not enough.
Apollon Patras- Panionios 93-84
Apollon played his last game at home for the season against Panionios and the fans enjoyed a nice and open game since both teams had no real interest in winning. Apollon got in the game better and took advantage of bad Panionios’ defense, getting an early 28-22 lead. After that it was clear they had no urge to defend allowing the visitors to overtake and reach the half time leading 45-51.
It was the visitor’s time to pay less attention to the defense once again, El Amin stepped up and Apollon overtook again 70-67. However the pace was good and both sides seemed to enjoy a game that concluded with the home side getting the 2 points. El Amin scored 26 and Tubbs added 23 points to the total.
Panelefsiniakos- Panathinaikos 51-82
It was the first game for Panathinaikos after Ivanovic departed and with coach Manolopoulos on the bench, the team played good, free-flowing basketball to reach an easy win. Right after the tip-off the visitors were looking to get in front and so they did 13-19, a lead that was expanded despite Panelefsiniakos’ attempts to stay close. 27-41 was the half time with Panathinaikos being clearly better.
The difference the two teams had was made clear after the break when the “Greens” were unstoppable and scored every way possible and on defense they played physically, forcing many turnovers. 40-65 was the score after 30 minutes and the closing quarter did not have much to offer because the home team gave up on the attempt to take the win. Blums scored 17 and was the MVP and for the defeated team, no-one had more than 10 points but Looby stood out with 9 points and 18 rebounds. During the game Pappas was injured and had to visit a hospital for some stiches but it is estimated he will not lose any of the action.
