Bitter defeat in the final for the fighting Aris in Italy

He fought, he came a… breath away from a big upset, but o Mars left with a… bitter taste from Italy.

With a sustained counter-attack, the Thessalonians managed to come back from -15 down early in the final period, however, they could not complete the turnaround, bowing out in the final and losing with the final 69-67 from Trento for the 9th matchday of the EuroCup.

Fatal for the “yellows” was the amazing one tonight Harrell (24p.), who had 2/3 shots for 65-65, 4” before the finale, missing a great opportunity to put his team in front of the score. On the next drive, Ellis hit a two-pointer in the last second, giving the Italians the victory, and dropping Aris to 8th place in the group with 3-6 record.

The match:

The first quarter of the match was quite balanced, with Mars finding scores from multiple players for 10-8 at 7′. Four straight Ellis points put Trent ahead 12-10, with Harrell responding with five points of his own for 17-17 of the first quarter.

Consecutive mistakes, but also several missed shots from the Thessalonians at the beginning of the game second period, allowed the Italians to run a short run and lead for the first time with +5 for 24-19 at 13′. Bloombergs Harrell and Slaftsakis aggressively “unstuck” Aris (26-27) in the 16th minute, with the two teams going hand-in-hand from then until the end of the half, with the first twenty minutes ending in an absolute tie with a score of 32-32.

The scene was completely different in the second half, with the home team taking advantage of Aris’ bad time, pushing the difference to +13 for 47-34 in the 25th minute. Harel and Katsivelis gave an offensive “breath” to the Thessalonians, reducing to 53-43 in the quarter.

In fact, Trento with a 5-0 run at the beginning of the fourth period they went to +15, showing they clear the win case. However, Aris not only didn’t give up, but, with Harel and Katsiveli in the foreground, they reacted and gnawed away at the difference for 65-64 in the 38th minute. The first in fact, 4” before the finale, with 2/3 shots equalized at 67-67, with Aris being “hurt” at the last second by Ellis, losing with final 69-67.

The quarters: 17-17, 32-32, 53-43, 69-67.