Premiere with the… right hand at this year’s Stoiximan GBL for the AEK Betsson BC!
In a closed and quite bad in terms of spectacle and quality derby with Mars in “Alexandreio” – at the mercy of course of the era – “Enosis” succeeded thanks to its good defense but also in her aggressive outburst in the fourth and last period to leave with great double (59-70) from Thessaloniki!
This was also the second victory for his team Dragan Sakota in this season, after the previous one had preceded it Maccabi Ramat Gan in the BCL premiershipthe time where Mars counts four defeats in as many official games of the season! In fact, this result also brought the reaction of the world, as after the completion of the match, there were protests from the ‘Nick Galis Hall’ audience.
Leading for the winners was CJ Bryce with 18 points (7/9 from the field) and 6 rebounds, while, in the last period, the Kuzminskas (12p., 4r.) and Grey (9p., 6r., 5as.).
For the Thessalonians, the first scorer was De Julius with 17 points, with Trey Woodbury to add 15.
The match:
Taking action from his headquarters, Mr Mars entered the match better and took the lead by 6-2 and 9-4 in the first three minutes of the game, during which Manzoukas and DeJulius hit two three-pointers. OR AEK reacted with Hale’s shots and Hamp’s three-pointer, tied the match (9-9) at 5′. Somewhere there began the many missed shots of the two teams, but also the many mistakes, as a result of which the score remained low. With Toliopoulos and Roberts coming forward, the Thessalonians went to +6 (15-9) and shortly after at +7 (17-10) with the first basket of the newly acquired Alkins, before the “Union” gathered the difference in the last minute for 17-14 of the period.
With two shots from Netzipoglu and a three-pointer from Kuzminskas, Dragan Sakota’s team took a 19-17 lead in the opening second quarter. Woodbury tied the game again, followed by five straight points by C.J. Bryce for the +5 (19-24) of AEK in the 15′. However, both teams continued to have very bad rates, both on the racket and behind the 6.75 m. It is indicative that Aris finished the half with 36% in field (9/22d., 3/11tr.), while the “Union” for its part had the… poor 25% (5/12d., 3/11tr.).
In the last five minutes of the second quarter, the good defense of Aris, and the mistakes of the guests, allowed the team of Yannis Kastritis to run an individual score of 10-2 with protagonists Toliopoulos and Mantzoukas, as a result of which they took the reins of the match and to go to the locker room in front of the score with 29-26.
The scene was similar in second part of the derby, with mistakes and bad offensive choices having the main say in the match, I am of course also at the mercy of the season, as the two teams are still “searching” to find chemistry and roles. It was the visitors who showed more signs of improvement, going into the third quarter well thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Hamp and Kouseloglou (31-32) at 22′. The former, together with Golden, raised the difference to +6 (34-40) for AEK a little later, with Aris reacting and to tie at 40-40 at 28′taking advantage of course of the line of “philanthropy”. Flionis and Bryce made it 40-44 a minute later, for Alkins to come and with 1/2 shots to make it 41-44 in the period.
And while everything showed that the game would develop into… a thriller fourth and final period since it was closed throughout its duration, AEK came in determined and mentally ready to “clean up” the match. With him RayQuan Gray to come out ahead with 8 points and develop into the big protagonist, “Union” succeeded and led for the first time with a double-digit price for 45-55 in 35′. In fact, despite the baskets by Woodbury and DeJulius for Aris, Sakota’s team then found six points from Kuzminskas, escaping at +15 and 66-51 at 37′! A gap that Aris was never able to cover in the remaining time, with AEK leaving with the great pink match sheet with final 70-59.
The quarters: 17-14, 29-26, 41-44, 59-70.
See here the statistics of the match.
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.