Panellinios BC was the big winner of the 5th playing-day of EuroCup's competition, after downing Aris BSA in Vodafone Sports Hall by 72-77.
Panellinios started very enthusiastically the game and managed to take the lead in the score by 2-8 with big-man Djuro Ostojic scoring 6 out of the 8 points of his team. The “yellows” scored 4 points in a row with Greek wing-forward Dimitris Tsaldaris for the 8-11, but Manolis Papamakarios and Jurica Golemac scored for Panellinios BC, while Keydren Clark with 5 personal points made the 17-17 at the end of the first quarter. During the first minutes of the second quarter, Aris BSA took the lead in the score by +5 (24-19) with Lazaros Agadakos and Nikos Argyropoulos scoring inside the “paint”. Panellinios BC with an incredible 7-18 in 5' made the score 31-37 for the first half, with Stevan Nadjfeji adding 9 points.
Panellinios reached the +8 (34-42) during the start of the second half but Tsaldaris was the scoring leader of the “yellows” and with 4 triples in a row and 2 free thows made the score 50-50, while Papamakarios was scoring for his team. The third half ended with the score being at 54-55 and it was definite that the game would continue at the same pace. At the last quarter Aris BSA managed again to take the lead in the score by +2 (61-59) due to a technical foul that was commited by Giorgos Kalaitzis and 4 free throws from Argyropoulos. Anthony Grundy, Brad Newley and Jurica Golemac scored for the 68-74 with 2' to go. Tsaldaris and Barlos scored for the “yellows” and Ostojic added one free throw, making the score 72-75 with 40'' to go. The players of Aris BSA were not concentrated during the last seconds and Panellinios BC grabbed the big win by 72-77.
During the press conference, the head coach of Panellinios BC, mr Ilias Zouros, stated:
“I would like to congratulate my players, because they recovered and came back after a difficult period and a kind of crisis we had to manage. We came out serious and I think that the result is fair. This victory might mean a lot or nothing. But to be honest it means a lot for our team, because it is not easy for any team to down Aris at their home court. The situation in the group is not clear, after all that happened in Ankara, so we have to wait the decision of the judge.”
On the other hand, mr Andrea Mazzon, noticed:
“Congratulations to Panellinios, because they played a very good game and deserved to win. I think that we lost the game very early, in the fifth minute, because we didn't have the rhythm needed to make the things as we are used to. Although the score at the end of the first half was tied at 17, the things did not work for us. We still have the chance in our hands and this is something familiar in the European competitions. We have to go to Israel and win.”
**It must be noticed that the other game of Group D between Turk Telekom and Bnei Hasharon did not take place due to serious supporters' protests.
