A.E.K.- Olympiacos 93-100 (77-77 regular time)
In a sold-out OAKA stadium AEK hosted Olympiacos in possibly the best game of the season. The home team had momentum taking advantage of their full house but the “Reds” were solid, not allowing any big margins to be created. AEK forced Hunter and Milutinov out quickly with foul trouble, Printezis was in a bad night but Spanoulis helped them stay close 42-39 at halftime, even taking some occasional small leads.
After the break, Sfairopoulos asked his players to pass the ball in the paint to Hunter who got back in the game, balancing the score, as AEK had 13 offensive rebounds, dominating on rebound totals. 61-62 after 3 periods and the tight game resumed for the last 10 minutes. The visitors got a +7 lead but it quickly vanished after Brown’s big three (77-77), 28 seconds before the end. No more points were scored until the end and the game went to over time.
AEK had momentum with Brown being on fire, they controlled the game but during the last minute, 3 missed opportunities and Spanoulis’ made shot, brought the game to overtime number two. AEK was exhausted while Brown was hit by injury and did not play for the last minutes. Αn important trey from Mantzaris and a bucket from Hunter while the score was 91-91, combined with great defense next, gave the “Reds” a very difficult win, but equally as important because they made one big step towards finishing the regular season at pole position. MVP was Spanoulis who managed to shake off AEK’s tight defense throughout the match, scored 26 points and shared 9 assists.
A.E.N.Kifissias- Aris 65-67
Aris squeezed past AENK in a game where the home team had control of the game by halftime but Aris slowly and steadily made a difficult comeback to avoid an upset. Waters had 17 points for the “Emperor” while top scorer of the match was El-Amin with 25, for the home side.
Koroivos Amaliadas- Kolossos Rhodes 68-71
At half time it looked like Koroivos would take an easy win at home since they were in front 40-25, playing crushing defense but all f a sudden they collapsed allowing the Rhodians to take the upper hand and make the comeback just it time to walk away with a huge win, which gave them even more chances to be part of the play-offs. Player of the game was Releford who scored a season high 35 points.
P.A.O.K- Apollon Patras 80-67
PAOK played as much as needed to secure the win at Pylaia behind Schortsianitis’ dominant presence in the paint with 18 points. Apollon was trying to stay close but they were no threat at any point, failing to stop their opponents’ offensive play.
Kavala B.C.- A.G.O.Rethimno 103-102 (92-92 regular time)
Basketball fans that were present at the game between Kavala and AGOR definitely enjoyed an amazing game where both sides focused only on offense with multiple spectacular plays and a heart-breaking finale. Meiden scored a buzzer beater shot behind the arc to get the game to overtime for AGOR, and during the extra five minutes the game was nail biting, while 2 second before the end, the visitors where in front 101-102. Costov scored the final shot just before the horn sounded and Kavala ended a bad losing streak, still having some chances to save the season and avoid relegation, while Rethimno lost ground to their fight for a post season spot. MVP was Williams with 12 points and 17 rebounds while Kroma added 25 points. On the other side, Delinikaitis had 24.
Lavrio G.S.- Arkadikos 79-67
It was a very important game for Lavrio as they needed the win to most likely secure a spot to the next season’s Basket League, taking distance for the relegation zone. Culibali who is outstanding this season led his team safely with 27 points and 14 boards, sinking Arkadikos to last position of the league, combined with Kavala’s dramatic win.
Trikala B.C.- Panathinaikos 81-98
Trikala is not a team that looks to “destroy” the game of the opponent, on the other side they look to play as offensively as possible, but this time against Panathinaikos who is on form lately, it proved to be their weak spot, since the Cup Holders had great offensive flow, great shooting totals and lots of solutions for scoring, and they met no obstacles, storming past Trikala that defended poorly, for a win on the road. MVP was Jankovic with 19 points.
