An improbable Laurel “execute” her AEK from 6.75 m. inside the Klisto of Ano Liosion and entered this year’s Basket League with a bang!
Costa Mexa’s team had the upper hand in the score from the end of the first period, reaching the difference as much as +17 at the beginning of the last quarter. “Union”, fought and got a reaction in the final, reducing to 5, but the big shots of the amazing tonight Xavier Castaneda, they led Lavrio to a great double with score 98-93!
The first scorer for the winners was the 23-year-old American guard me 26 points and 6/12 three-pointers, while all of Lavrio was 14/20 behind 6.75.! Moore (19p., 8p.), Hellems (17p.) and Thorton (17p., 5as.) followed closely behind, showing very good data in their first appearance in the Greek league.
For the “yellow and black”, those who stood out and seemed to be fighting alone for hours were the Tillman and McRae who finished the match with 21 points.
The match:
With the people in Klisto of Ano Liosia pushing her AEK in the first minutes, Joan Plata’s players entered the match very strongly and with two consecutive three-pointers by Kuzminskas and McRae, they took the lead with 10-4, while, another three-pointer by the American forward made it 13-7 in the 4th minute. From that point on, Lavrio found a rhythm and with Kavvadas and Moore “hitting” the opponent’s racket, they equalized in 21-21 at 8′. Tillman scored five points to put AEK back in front, but Thornton’s 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter put Lavrio in the lead. (26-28).
With Tillman continuing to find his way to the opposition basket, being AEK’s only attacking pole in this period, the home team went ahead with 32-31 at 13′. However, the repeated mistakes and bad choices of the “Union” in defense and attack, gave Lavrio the right to find long shots, but also points from second chances. It is indicative that within three minutes, the players of Kostas Mexa ran one individual scores 12-1, blowing the difference at +13 for 48-35 at 18′. Despite the efforts of Kuzminskas and Netzipoglou, AEK went to the dressing room back to score with 52-39.
As at the start of the match, so at third quarter, the “Union” concentrated on both ends of the floor, which had the effect of “gnawing” the difference and reducing it to 7 (47-54) at 23′. Where he was finding rhythm and momentum, the switch went off for the home team all of a sudden. The three points of Thorton, Castaneda and the excellent actions of Moore for Lavrio, combined with the bad image of AEK in defense, allowed the guests to go the difference until the +15 (55-70 in 27′). Netzipoglou and Kuzminskas gave AEK offensive breath, reducing to 64-76 of the quarter.
In fact, Lavrio increased the difference for the first time to +17 (65-82) at the beginning of the fourth and last period, showing that it effectively “cleansed” the match. However, AEK reacted and with Tillman and McRae leading the counter-attack of the “yellow and black”, they reduced to 5 (81-86) at 35′. However, Xavier Castaneda was there for Lavrio and with big, however difficult shots, he kept the difference in safe differences, with the Lavreotiki team reaching the final in victory with the final 98-93.
The quarters: 26-28, 39-52, 64-76, 93-98.
Watch the match live here.
Source: Sport Fm
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