He took the victory in the… thread of the big derby with the AEK Betsson BC with the great protagonist Toliopoulos o Mars!
In an exciting game that kept the interest undiminished throughout its duration and until the last tenth of a second, the Thessalonians celebrated the victory with 93-91making the 2/2 geto against Union and going up to 8-7! On the other hand, the hosts, who had a chance to tie Morgan late to send the game into overtime, suffered their fourth loss in their last five Stoiximan Basket League games, falling to 6-9.
In a big night for the winners o Toliopoulos (double-double with 25 points, 10 assists), had worthy supporters Galinat (19π) and Harrell (16p), while for AEK they stood out McRae (19p, 6 rebs, 4 assists), Morgan (18p, 8 rib) and Yes T (18p with 13/14 shots).
The match
Platha started the match with Knight, Randle, McRae, Kouseloglou and Morgan, who for the first time had Agravanis in his starting lineup, but not Hollins. On the other hand, Kastritis, who did not have Bohorides and Stark available, started with Toliopoulos, Bloombergs, Galinat, Harrell and De Souza. Morgan made the first field goal of the game, but then there was a stoppage of nearly 20 minutes due to a problem with the court timers.
On the restart, McRae came on hot for the home side, monopolizing their attacks and scoring 10 quick points for the 15-7. Two consecutive spikes by Bankston and Harrell on Ari’s surprises made it 15-11, but Morgan was a worthy supporter of McRae in the AEK attack, reaching 9 and making it 19-11. Bankston scored again to make it 19-13 before Galinat made a three-pointer to make it 19-13. 22-19 of the first period.
Toliopoulos hit shots bringing Aris within breathing distance (22-21) at the start of the second quarter, while AEK was still looking for its first three-pointer (0/8). The visitors kept close to the score and took their first lead (28-29) with a three-pointer by the very active Toliopoulos, while the Greek guard was the one who created a great move and a well-timed layup, 30-33. At that point Galinat took action for Aris, scoring 6 straight points to make it 39-43, before Randle scored as the first half ended, hitting AEK’s first 3-pointer to cut it to 42-43.
Toliopoulos picked up where he left off, hitting a 3-pointer on the move for 42-46, Randle responded for 44-46, but that was AEK’s only basket in 2.5 minutes at the start of the third period. Sanogo and Toliopoulos scored for 44-50, Kouselogle hit just AEK’s second 3-pointer of the match (2/15), cutting it to 47-50, but the visitors continued to play good defense, creating the maximum margin in their favor (47 -56). AEK dropped to 53-59, with Morgan continuing to offer them offensive solutions, while closing the third period ahead with 71-67, thanks to a buzzer-beater three-pointer by McRae!
Aris started the fourth period with a 9-2 run, retaking the lead (73-76), before Randle and Tillman made it 77-76. Galinat with a big three-pointer for Aris and Bankston with his terrible nail put Aris ahead 79-83 with 2:50 left in the final, while Toliopoulos with a very difficult three-pointer reached his personal 25 points, making it 81- 86 and with the clock showing 1:19. In the “final stretch” of the match, Aris chose to send AEK to the shots without risking the three-pointer, but Bankston missed two and AEK found an attack with 1.3” to go and the score was -2 (91-93 ). But, Morgan did not have time to execute before the end after McRae’s smart recovery and so Aris left with the victory from the closed Ano Liosion.
For AEK, the civil war with Prometheus in Patras follows for the premiere of the “16” phase of the BCL, while Aris will host the French Bourg at “Alexandreio”, for the EuroCup.
The quarters: 22-19, 42-43, 71-67, 91-93
The match statistics
The Live of sport-fm.gr
Source: Sport Fm
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