Panathinaikos passed victoriously through the “Alexandrio” indoor stadium. It downed home-team Aris 70-62 for game 3 of the Greek League, introducing 5 players in double digit scoring stats.
Aris managed to take its guest by surprise and lead in the moments facing tip-off, mounting to an 11-2 score (4’15’’) Zeljko Obradovic starting out with Calathes, Diamantidis, Tepic, Golemac and Pekovic as his initial 5’ across from respective Miles, Clark, Richardson, Kakiouzis and Betts sent in by opposing coach Fotis Katsikaris. Obradovic’s swaps but also the fact that Panathinaikos gradually picked up the slack and paced itself more sufficiently plus became more effective in defense were elements that shifted the game’s initial image.
The clover’s trail steadily disappeared as Vassilis Spanoulis scored to tie (13-13, 7’15’’) followed by Nikola Pekovic who presented his team with its first edge in the game at 10’45’’ (18-19). The greens proved to be in pole position and in possession of the clash’s reigns as they got to a 7 point distance (22-29, 15’40’’), exploiting every opportunity to run the open field, forcing their rivals to a 24’ violation thrice in the first half of the encounter getting buckets off Stratos Perperoglou even on second attempts from picked up offensive boards. The game was far but ended though, in more than timely issues.
Aris always seemed to embark on successful come-backs (29-29 at 17’25’’, 34-34 at 19’20’’) both teams heading eventually to the locker rooms a two-point bucket apart, 34-36. Both coaches had already been forced to seek extreme measure solutions in the big-men department, since for the hosts Betts had been charged with 3 personals whilst for Panathinaikos so much Pekovic as Giorgi Shermadini had accumulated as many fouls early in the match-up.
Rerun of the same scenario was marked in third quarter, coach Obradovic seeing his boys climb back up to +7, getting game behind Pekovic but also a groovy Drew Nicholas who dialed long distance at will even to make 46-53, 29’30’’ score. However at the quarter buzzer Jeremy Richardson drained a three out of nowhere to close the score at 49-53. Nicholas nevertheless did not allow the triple pending unanswered as he unleashed a trifecta of his own way beyond the arc to 49-56 (30’40’’).
Panathinaikos kept up the same act at the same velocity, speed in which Aris seemed unable to keep up with or cut into. The gap touched double figures for the first time at 32’30’’ (49-60), Spanoulis upping the ante for the clover to +13 a few moments later at 33’. Pekovic’s fourth foul that followed made Panathinaikos’s project a tad harder, as technical staff sought out special schemes to face the problem. At 35’20’’ Shermadini was benched behind five personals, sending the Montenegrin back into action. The hosts tried to fight back, closed the gap to a 5 point distance Juan Dixon getting range from quite some distance (60-65, 36’40’’), but Diamantidis with a pair of charity shots and Perperoglou with a hoop in an offence’s clutch rose the margin back into a 9 point fashion (60-69, 37’25’’) seeing on to game conclusion at final 62-70 marked by a free throw form Antonis Fotsis.
Referees: Schinas, Koromilas, Goumas (Arvanitidis)
Quarters: 18-17, 34-36, 49-53, 62-70
Aris (Katsikaris): Clark 9, Miles 8, Chrisikopoulos, Betts 7, Mourtos, Richardson 8, Hatzivrettas 5, Dixon 12, Kakiouzis 6, Barlos 7
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Shermadini, Tepic 4, Spanoulis 12, Perperoglou 11, Fotsis 3, Golemac, Nicholas 12, Diamantidis 14, Pekovic 14, Calathes
Game quotes
Stratos Perperoglou (Panathinaikos, player): “Aris was coming off certain bad results, we knew it would be eager to prevail plus it had the addition of a new player. We on the other hand were also recovering from a loss and it was imperative for us to win. We played as much as needed to win. We aspire to improve game by game and it is certainly a positive element to pass through such stadiums victoriously. Aris is a great team, with many fans and a great club history and I really believe its image will improve in the succeeding games of the league seeing that it has good material plus a good coach. What’s up next for us is more games in Euroleague and the Greek League. This period of time is quite hard for us and slowing down is not an option”.
