AEK Betsson paid for its many mistakes, lost the gap with Maccabi Ramat Gan

She fought back, but was bowed out in the finale by the Maccabi Raman Gan AEK Betsson!

In a game played in neutral Opava, Czech Republic, that was a derby throughout, Union finally paid for the many and significant mistakes they made in the “final stretch” of the game and were defeated by 95-84losing the 9-point difference with which he had defeated the Israelis for the first round.

Thus, AEK fell to 3-2 and will now have to wait until the completion of the 6th and last matchday of the BCL (hosting the pioneer Bonn) to find out if he will qualify and from which position. On the other hand, Maccabi Ramat Gan moved up to 2-3 and hopes to take second place from Sakota’s team.

Leaders for AEK, which finished the match with 17 errors and 10 missed shots, were Hale (17p), Kuzminskas (13p with 3/5 three-pointers, 4 assists and 3 rebounds) and Bryce (9p, 6 rib), while for Maccabi the standouts were Stevens (24p, 7 rib), McCollum (23pts, 6 assists and 7 steals) and Miles (10p, 8 rib).

The match:

AEK started the game with Hale, Karabela, Netzipoglu, Gray and Golden, while for Maccabi Ramat Gan the starting five were Stevens, McCollum, Ariel, Galinat (at Aris last season) and Miles (AEK player in the 2022 season- 23).

The match started with AEK entering sluggish and “cold”, with several wrong choices in their attacks. So Maccabi first found a rhythm and led 14-6, mainly thanks to his 8 personal points Stevenswhile AEK found offensive solutions with two consecutive three-pointers by Karabela and Kuzminskas, who made it 16-12. Stevens continued to hurt AEK’s defense (10 points with 5/6 two-pointers) and Maccabi escaped with +8 (20-12), but the Netzipoglou pulled the Union back to -4 (20-16) with back-to-back baskets before Crawford made it 24-17. THE Obiesie made a three-pointer for his first points with AEK, while in the last seconds of the first period he made his appearance Humpwho with two series of his own three-pointers (5/7 in total the Union) equalized at 26-26!

The second quarter started with AEK taking its first lead of the night (26-30) thanks to baskets by Bryce and Obiesiewhile o Galinat with consecutive baskets he tied the game at 34-34. THE Miles continued to… elude AEK’s defense and made it 36-33 with a three-pointer and a foul, while Kuzminskas he provided the solutions to the attacks of the Union, putting it back in front, with 41-40, while it reached 10 when he made it 42-43, with the two teams going to the locker room being in perfect balance (44-44).

The third period started with AEK showing improvement in its defense, allowing its opponent to score just one basket in the first three minutes of the game and escaping for the first time at +6 (46-52) with baskets from Hale and Golden. Then came two consecutive foul shots and a 3-pointer by Ariel to make it 51-52, but Hale found a rhythm, hitting a 3-pointer and a layup to make it 9 points in the period to make it 51-58! AEK maintained this small margin of safety until 57-64, but o McCollum with consecutive 3-pointers he tied the game at 67-67, before o Flionis to shape it 67-69 of the third period.

Coming… with a lead from the third quarter, o McCollum scored 5 consecutive points for Ramat Gan’s +3 (72-69), while Crawford made it 76-69 with a three-pointer. With AEK blocked offensively, going without a point for 3 minutes, the typical home team escaped with +8 (77-69), but Hale with his big three-pointer gave a “breather” for 77-72 and Bryce scored after from stealing Kouseloglou for the 77-74. Kuzminskas with three point and Grey but basket-foul kept AEK close to the score (86-82), but entering the “final stretch” of the match, continuous mistakes appeared, with Maccabi taking advantage of the situation and winning with 95-84covering the margin by which he had been defeated in Athens.

The quarters: 26-26, 44-44, 67-69, 95-84

The match statistics

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