Greek Basket League round-up (week 16)

Week 16 of the Greek Basket League, Panathinaikos remains atop of the League while the fight for the play-off spots keep raging. Read full review of all 7 games, below:

Kolossos Rhodes – Apollon Patras 82-84

Kolossos came back from a 19-point difference but Milutinovic salvaged Apollon. The home team had the upper hand during the first 10 minutes of the game taking a small lead 22-19, that did not last long since the away side found their offensive flow, took advantage of their athletic players and on halftime break they were in front 40-53.

Kolossos downfall continued during the 2^nd half, since they could not find a way to stop their opponent’s crescendo behind the arc. The score at the end of the 3^rd quarter was 53-66. However the home side was not ready to give up, Tsamis led the way and Kolossos overtook Apollon, 82-75. Even then, Apollon was still in the game, and 5 consecutive points by Milutinovic finally gave his team a great win. MVP was Milutinovic who scored 15 points, while Tsamis had 24 with 7 assists for the Rhodians.

Ilissiakos – Panelefsiniakos 84-75

A win of great importance for Ilissiakos who got away from the relegation zone after a very long time. The home team dominated the game from early on, and as a result the score for the 1^st period was 23-17. Good choices offensively and tight defense, allowed Ilissiakos to extend their lead 49-37 on haftime.

Panelefsiniakos tried to react and return to the game, starting the second half playing strong defense, but the home side did not lose their concentration and concluded the 3^rd period in front 62-52. Panelefsinikos had one last shot for the win but Ilissiakos held them back quiet easily, in order to achieve their 5^th win this season. Dorkofikis had 19 for the winners and Papamakarios scored 18 for the visitors.

A.E.Nea Kifissia – Aris 81-74

Another win for AENK, the 7^th in 8 games. An outstanding first half for the home team got them in front 32-16. Aris had to react somehow and try to reduce the gap in  order to have a chance for the win. And so they did, playing good defense and taking care of the rebounds, cutting the lead to 11, 46-35.

Aris started the second half strong, managing to return to the game, but Kifissia was superior and finally brought the difference to double digits once again after 30 minutes of basketball, 60-48. The visitors had one last chance to reduce the gap and aim for the win, but the home team held them back without being threatened and the buzzer found them celebrating an important win. Tsaldaris had another great game scoring 18 points and sharing 3 assists and also committed no turnovers during the 30 minutes he played.

PAOK – A.G.O.Rethimno 97-90

PAOK again had problems defensively, but this time they scored 97 points, to record their 2^nd consecutive win. A slow-tempo start for the game led to a 16-23 first quarter score. PAOK picked up the pace, focused on offense, scored 29 points and went to the locker rooms leading 45-41.

The key point of the game was the beginning of the second half since PAOK got in the game strong, forced many missed shot to their opponents and scored some easy fastbreak points, skyrocketing the point difference to 15, 73-58. AGOR tried to recover and make a comeback, but PAOK did not allow them to reduce the lead until 2 minutes before the final buzzer when the game was put to bed. Bogris dominated the paint with 15 points while Wright scored a game high 31 points for AGOR.

Panionios – K.A.O.Dramas 77-71

A game that seemed to be over by halftime had more to give but Panionios finally got the win in a game they controlled throughout. Bad defensive work from Drama led to an early Panionios lead 30-20 after the passage of 10 minutes. The home team kept hitting almost every shot and finding all kinds of offensive solutions, showing determined to get an easy win. 55-37 was the halftime score.

Nothing changed during the 3^rd quarter, Panionios kept having the upper hand and finally got a 20-point lead 72-52 by the end of it. No one could foresee what was about to happen since the home team was totally in control of the game. KAOD had a 2-19 run, got the point difference to 3, 15 seconds before the end of the game, but Panionios avoided the drama, and finally got an important win. Eric McCollum had 21 points with 3 steals for the winners and Bavcic had 15 for the visitors.

Panathinaikos – A.O.Trikala 83-63

Panathinaikos played as much as needed to record an easy win at home against Trikala. Diamantidis and Maciulis did not play in order to rest, but that was not a problem for the “Greens” since they ended the first quarter leadin 22-8. Trikala improved their offense, but Panathinaikos kept scoring easy points and as a result the halftime score was 41-25.

After the break, the visitors tried to return to the game, cutting the lead to single digits but their opponents were alerted and soon got a safe lead 62-50 right before the end of the 3^rd quarter. The last part of the game belonged to Panathinaikos who simply secured the win during the 4^th, playing good basketball at times. MVP was Gist who scored 14p. and collected 9 rebounds.

Ikaros Chalkidas – Olympiacos 64-87

Olympiacos found the way to beat Ikaros who sunk to the last position of the League Table. The great atmosphere inside the venue, comparing with the Ikaros’ players enthusiasm over the game, allowed them to stay close to Olympiacos and end the quarter trailing 19-24. The “Reds” did not play good defense, and had many missed shots that gave their opponents the psychological boost they needed to reduce the gap even more. The half time score was 38-41 with Ikaros controlling the rebounds.

If Olympiacos kept playing that bad, they could have been in trouble and coach Bartzokas and his players knew it very well. They got in the game for the second half, controlled almost every aspect of it and, despite Ikaros’ players great attempts to hold on to the game, the score after 3 periods was 46-58. From then on, the home time ran out energy and solutions while Olympiacos totally dominated the court and finally got a win that could have come easier. Dunston stood up for the winners, scoring 13 points and grabbing  6 rebounds, while Gagaloudis had 15 for the home team.