PAOK painted the “double-header” derby in Pylaia in black and white!

He painted the “two-headed” derby in black and white PAOK!

In a game worthy of the history of the two teams, the Thessalonians proved to be more cool and precise in the final against the AEK Betsson BC, overpowering me score 87-82 after a great battle in “Palataki” for the 4th round of the Stoiximan GBL.

Characteristic of the impressive match, which took place in Pylaia, was the fact that during the match there were 13 lead changes in the score and overall 9 tieswith the “two-headed man of the north” entering the final stretch more focused and with better options in his offensive game, thus celebrating the 2nd pink game card in this year’s championship!

The top scorer for the winners, who had a total of four players with double-digit points, was Cruiser with 21 points, with Forrester (15p., 4r.) and Reynolds (14p., 7as.) to follow in performance.

For “Enos”, which fell to 2-2, while at the same time suffering its third consecutive defeat in all competitions, the standouts were Hale (22 points, 19 in the first half though), Kuzminskas (19p., 7r.) and Bryce (17 p., 5 p.).

The match:

The pace at the start of the match was very good, with both teams playing fast and aggressive basketball in the first minutes of the match. With him Hunter Hale to enter the derby “hot” and achieve eight collected points, h AEK preceded by 10-7 in the first three minutes. In fact, a little later, with five points from Bryce, the “Union” went to +6 (9-15), before Reynolds and Upson managed to tie the game for PAOK (15-15) in the 6th minute. With Hale reaching 11 points and three accurate 3-pointers (!), the visitors took the lead again, with Golden and Kuzminskas in the final to write 24-19 of the period.

The offensive crescendo of the two teams behind the 6.75m. continued in second quarterwith Henderson and Papadakis finding two three-pointers for PAOK and Kuzminskas and Hamp responding with the same “coin” for 25-30 at 13′. Shortly after, Bryce with 1/2 shots again dispatched AEK at +6 (25-31)to follow a breakout for Massimo Cancellieri’s team, who with an 8-0 run and five points from Persedis, overtook for 33-31 at 15′. Earlier, however, Kouzeloglou left with support from the floor after a clumsy fall on the floor, with the “Union” informing a little later that the Greek forward suffered a left ankle injury.

The derby continued in the second half of the period, where there were a total of 9 lead changes (!), with both teams displaying their attacking qualities! With him Cruiser from one and them Hale and Kuzminskas on the other hand, the two teams continued to “bombard” the opposing baskets with three-pointers, with AEK going to the locker room in front of the score with short head (48-49). In the first half, PAOK had 6/15 three-pointers and “Union” 8/15, with Kreuzer stopping at 16 points and Hale at 19!

With a goal-foul by Hunter Hale, the third periodwhich resulted in Dragan Sakota’s team going at +4 (48-52). The continuation, however, belonged to PAOK, which thanks to its good and pressing defense, managed to overtake for 54-52 in the 23′, while a little later it went for the first time at +4 (58-54) at 25′. With a difficult basket by Bryce, AEK ended a three-minute period without a point (58-56), with the “two-headed man of the North”, however, continuing his dominance on the floor and with Forrester coming forward, he went at +5 and 63-58 at 29′. In the last seconds, Hamp shot behind 6.75m. cut it to 63-61 before Forrester hooked from close range form 65-61 of the period from Reynolds’ 7th assist!

The… thriller continued in fourth and final periodwhere in the first minutes the two teams exchanged successive “blows”. With versatility in the attack, o PAOK led with +5 (73-68), only to be reduced by Kuzminskas (73-71) in the 34th minute, with the Lithuanian scoring 8 of AEK’s 10 points in this first quarter. The home team with Persedis and Forrester found their way to the opponent’s basket, only for the “yellow and black” to answer with their hands from the shooting line for 79-76 at 37′.

Three minutes before the finale, Reynolds made it 81-76, for the excellent Kreuzer to come and make it 84-76 for the Thessalonians with his fourth three-pointer of the match. Bryce and Hamp cut it to 84-80 with a minute to go, with Forrester proving cool from the line in the final and PAOK celebrating the win with final 87-82.

The quarters: 19-24, 48-49, 65-61, 87-82.

See here the statistics of the match.