Triumph and qualification for the great AEK but with losses

An amazing one AEKwho was not bent even by misfortunes, prevailed 92-78 of Galatasaray in the almost full closed Liosia. This is how he secured qualification to the quarterfinals of the Basketball Champions League and will play for the championship next Tuesday, welcoming the Malaga (19:30). Heavy shadow on the showdown it seems very serious injury of Janis Strelnieks to the achilleswhile with a smaller problem also left Kenny Williams.

Excellent appearance o Brydon Lemar with 21 points, with Janis Strelnieks adding 15 and the Vlado Jankovic 14 along with 7 rebounds. Valuable contribution and from Dimitris Flionis and Pierre Oriola in defense and attack for his team Ilias Kanzouris. Amazing atmosphere from over 6,000 spectators, who made a record attendance at the team’s new headquarters. Darron Russell with 28 points stood out from Galata, who after Malaga’s victory over Limoges was mathematically out of the game.

The match

Flionis, Lemar, Williams, Miles and Gondikas were the starting five for AEK, which saw the “hot” Russell to take it personally and lead Galatasaray to a quick lead, 2-8. This quickly disappeared with him Lemar with seven points bringing the first yellow and black lead, 12-10. Ristic’s layup put the visitors back in front, 21-26, but two straight 3-pointers by Williams turned the game around again, 27-26. The very productive first quarter ended with another three-pointer by Russell, who reached 15 points (!) to make it 29-31.

Finding scores near the basket with Jankovic and noticeably improving its peripheral defense, AEK overtook again reaching the 40-36. Mustafa and McGee with two three-pointers in a row brought Galata to 8/11, while with the zone of Andreas Pistiolis making it difficult for the “Union”, the Turkish team overturned the situation with a 0-8, 40-44. A 5-0 was the response of the home team (45-44), with Russell’s two shots writing the epilogue of the half, 45-46.

The fierce battle continued in the third quarter, between two very nervous and misguided teams, with AEK loses Williams with a knee problem at 8:44. Despite the setbacks, with seven consecutive points by Lemar the home team reached +4 (59-55) and with a difficult shot by Miles in 61-55. Ennis with personal points allowed Galata to close the period within shooting distance, 63-61.

The match continued on a tightrope in the last period as well, with AEK climbing to +7 for the first time, 68-61, seven and a half minutes before the end. The defense was cracking bones and Flionis’ three-pointer produced a double-digit difference, 71-61. Andreas Pistiolis’ team was down to six, 73-67, but “Union” responded brilliantly with Mitchell and Strelnieks shooting the difference to eleven, 78-67. The Latvian 3:13 before the end he quit with an achilles problembut the “yellow and black” despite the shock managed the match excellently reaching the 85-73 with 1:50 left. Galata pressed and got closer to eight (85-77), but Xanthopoulos’ three-pointer from the corner in the minute before the final for 88-77 decided the match for good.

*Before the match, a minute’s silence was held in memory of Mimi Papaioannou.

Ten minutes: 29-31, 45-46, 63-61, 92-78

See here the statistics of the match

Referees: Glicic (Serbia), Ciulin (Romania), Gedvilas (Lithuania).

See the highlights of the match: