Panathinaikos nailed a road win across from Aris at the “Alexandrio” indoor stadium by 69-75, Aleks Maric getting back to action, even if for only a few minutes.
Panathinaikos presented a different image in the second quarter, compare to the one it presented during the first, in which it managed to enforced its pace, put down its own law, had control over defense and rebounding and got the game around to were it had hoped for. Zeljko Obradovic started out to venture into the game behind Tepic , Sato, Kaimakoglou, Tsartsaris and Vougioukaas across from Haralabidis, Brown, Tapouto, Chryssikopoulos and Thomas, Aris steeping out on court with full force. It led by 8-4 (4’), the greens flew ahead (10-12, 7’), but home-team regained the reigns to cruise all the way up by 18-12 (9’40’’), behind an 8-0 run, slightly before the quarter ended 18-13. Panathinaikos’s intentions with Diamantidis, Nicholas, Perperoglou, Fotsis and Batiste currently posing on court were more than clear form minute one. Defense got even feistier, collaborations worked out even more and the turnovers (6 in 9 minutes of the first quarter) reduced dramatically. The greens fled to 18-28 (15’10’’), Aris scored for the first time in the second quarter only at 15’40’’, Haralabidis getting some range beyond the arc, only for the clover to mount a +14 edge (27-41) sealed by Nicholas, competing behind 5-for-6 threes. 9-28 score to seal the second quarter stated a whole deal on its own of the direction in which things were heading towards on the floor.
Image did not flex much during the third quarter. Panathinaikos continued to enforce pressure in defense and maintained aspired circulation, cutting down on turnover committing, making so as to not be at all threatened at any point, galloping away to +19 (42-61, 29’24’’). Most memorable point of the clash was Aleks Maric’s return to action, the center of Panathinaikos stepping on court at 24’30’’ and retiring to the bench at 28’10’’. It was his first presence since the 31st of October in the encounter Ilissiakos-Panathinaikos. Aris continued to put up a fight and in the fourth quarter picked up the slack, getting good shots from down town. Sloukas and Haralabidis cut the trail down to 8 (58-66, 34’50’’) and Bacvic behind a free throw pulled the gap back to 7 (59-66, 35’), while the aforementioned culprit heaved in a triple to aid the home team even more to creep up to a 4 point shadow (64-68, 36’40’’). Brown closed the gap to a three (65-68, 37’), nailing a charity shot Perperoglou at the other end of the court offered a breather to Panathinaikos (65-70, 37’20’’). Bacvic cut the tail again behind 2-for-3 free throws (67-70, 37’40’’). Lost offenses followed for both teams, only for Haralabidis to cut the trail even further (69-70, 38’50’’). Batiste made 1-out of-2 shots from the line at the other end, 52’’ pending. Winters missed a three point shot; Diamantidis gathered the rebound, charged the field to get on a personal attempt close to the bucket and laid the ball up to 69-73, 12’’6 pending on the game clock. Sato intercepted the ball in the succeeding offense for Aris, Perperoglou took his turn to visit the line to mark final game score 69-75.
Referees: Χριστοδούλου, Μπήτης, Γεωργιάδης
Quarters: 18-13, 27-41, 44-61, 75-69
Aris (Subotic): Brown 6, Winters 9, Tapoutos 8, Tsairelis, Haralabidis 16, Koubouras, Bavcic 13, Chryssikopoulos, Sloukas 7, Thomas 10
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 2, Maric (3’41’’), Perperoglou 14, Batiste 6, Fotsis 4 (6rbs), Sato 12, Nicholas 9 (7αs), Tsartsaris 1, Diamantidis 13 (8as), Vougioukas 10, Calathes 2, Kaimakoglou 2 (6rbs)
