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After a bad performance and a very tough game, ARIS overcame the obstacle of AEL 1964 and beat them 72-70. ARIS' MVP was once again Jeremiah Massey with 30 points, but the total appearence of the team left Gordon Herbert with a bitter taste, especially the 19 additional rebounds of the guests...
@ Report
ARIS began the game, being absolutely perfect in the field goal percentage, but its defence lacked coherence and efficiency and, thus, the score was 12-9 in the 5th minute. ARIS couldn't threat from outside and was trying to penetrate inside. AEL controlled the rebound battle and the final 17-14 of the quarter was leaving the two teams with open accounts. In the second period, the scoring drought of the first 7 minutes, where only 9 total points were marked, left the 2.000 ARIS fans with a bad taste, as their team didn't perform at the high standards of the previous Euroleague game against Efes Pilsen. However, at that point, and mostly thanks to the reliable Lazaros Agadakos, ARIS made a quick 8-0 run and increased the lead to 30-21. The final buzzer of the half found ARIS leading by 6 (32-26), after a late downtown bomb by Papanikolopoulos.
In the second half, the insistence of Herbert on Mottola and Serapinas, who both underperformed, and the offensive awakening of AEL's Keys led to a 19-5 run in favor of the guests, which helped them close the quarter ahed 46-50. In the final and critical period, ARIS players tried to feed Jeremiah Massey inside the paint, in order to take advantage of his skillful movements. Massey and Iliadis initiated a 9-2 run, which put ARIS ahead again (55-52). A dowtown 3-pointer by Papanikolopoulos and a flagrant foul against Massey (which upset the crowd) put AEL once again ahead 57-58, with less than 5' to go. However, Massey seemed unstoppable, as he managed to give the lead back to ARIS, 62-58. Despite the fact that AEL reacted immediately and tied the score, ARIS had found the players to rely on: Massey with 2 free throw and Bracey Wright with a crucial 3-pointer gave ARIS a 5-point lead (67-62), which substantially offered ARIS the victory. Serapinas with a free throw formed the 68-62, but AEL came back and closed the gap to -3 (70-67). With 19" left, Castle lost both free throws and Papachristos made 2/2 from the charity line to reduce the gap to -1. Wright was cold-blooded and made 2/2 free throws and Teague lost 1, to form the final 72-70.
@ Quarters
17-14, 32-26, 46-50, 72-70
@ Statistics
ARIS : Castle 6, Serapinas 1, Tsaldaris 2, Wright 17 (2), Massey 30 (2), Kalaitzis, Iliadis 9, Mottola 3, Agadakos 4
AEL 1964 : Keys 17 (3), Kyriakopoulos, Papanikolopoulos 19 (4), Papachristos 10, Teague 5, Kolokas 2, Klimavicius 6, Karavanas 6, Soskic, Ceranic 5
@ Quotes
Gordon Herbert : "Congratulations to the opponents' coach and team. They made an excellent job in controlling the game's rythm. They made long offences and won the rebound battle. Withount any underestimation for Larisa, I am dissapointed with my players. We played as if we had hang-over after the Efes Pilsen victory. We lost too many rebounds, it's a serious issue, on which we will work definitely. Another subject is the control of the rythm and the only 6 assists we distributed. Thank God, we had only 6 turnover, while AEL had 19. The rebound is not only the frontline's task, exactly as the assist is not only the guards' responsibility. Serapinas was one of the best players in the friendly games. His performance declined as time went by, but he's still one of our most hard-working team players. Mottola is one of our best defensive players and his job doesn't appear in the stats. We have to be patient with him. He's one of the most responsible and professional players we got. You can't see what they are doing in the trainings, but in the games, you can see Hanno and Simonas encouraging their teammates. Those things are very important for a coach."
Kostas Pilafidis : "Congratulations to my players, they tried for 40 minutes and never gave up. The game was determined by our 19 mistakes and the 30 points of Massey. Despite him being a great player, he shouldn't have scored so many points. The responsibility is tottaly mine. We made a good effort and now we have to move on. We couldn't exploit our many rebounds and we couldn't limit Wright in the final quarter. We gave him a lot of open shots."
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