Kolossos no match for Panathinaikos; AEK edge past Promitheas
Panathinaikos comfortably defeated Kolossos Rodou, AEK edged past Promitheas while Ionikos Nikaia, Iraklis, Panionios, Peristeri and the Rethymno Cretan Kings also claimed victories in the ninth round of the Basket League regular season.
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KOLOSSOS RODOU 69-103 PANATHINAIKOS
It was all too easy for Panathinaikos in Rhodes. Still unbeaten in the regular season, the Prasini breezed past Kolossos on Sunday afternoon, earning a routine 103-69 victory.
Panathinaikos won all four periods to ease to victory in Rick Pitino’s first Basket League game since returning to the Athenian club.
Tyrese Rice was the leading scorer for Panathinaikos with 17 points to his name.
AEK 73-68 PROMITHEAS
AEK claimed a vital 73-68 victory against Promitheas at the OAKA Indoor Hall to move to within two points of second place in the table.
In a tight, evenly contested encounter, the Kitrinomavri found themselves trailing by four points at the break. However, AEK recovered in the third quarter, outscoring Promitheas by 10 points to put themselves in a great position.
This marked AEK’s fourth successive win in the Basket League.
Keith Langford, the most valuable player of AEK’s campaign to date, tallied 20 points for the capital club.
PANIONIOS 97-87 PAOK
The Panthers snapped their three-match losing streak with an impressive 10-point triumph over PAOK in Palaio Faliro.
Initially, Panionios took a three-point lead in the first quarter, before PAOK reduced to the deficit to one in the second. The Dikefalos tou Vorra then won the third period 24-17.
PAOK could see the finishing line in sight, but Panionios had other ideas, conjuring up a superb fourth quarter to overpower their opponents 35-19.
Tyreek Duren (22), Samardo Samuels (21) and Anthony Lee (20) all scored a minimum of 20 points for the home team.
PERISTERI 101-63 LARISA
On Friday, Peristeri were hit by the termination of Ilias Zouros’ contract as head coach, but they recovered to completely take Larisa apart in the Athenian suburb.
Peristeri were superior in all of the four quarters, not allowing Larisa to ever score more than 18 points. They had conceded a disappointing defeat against Aris on matchday eight.
Steven Gray took a leading role for Peristeri as he grabbed 20 points, two assists and one rebound.
Larisa have suffered seven defeats in nine games.
IRAKLIS 92-62 LAVRIO
Last week, the Iraklis defence was humiliated as Panathinaikos scored 130 points at the OAKA Indoor Hall, but they responded with a 30-point beating of Lavrio in Thessaloniki.
Iraklis had previously lost their last four consecutive league matches.
After winning the first quarter by 15 points, Iraklis did lose the second 18-14, but that was the best Lavrio could muster as the hosts subsequently eased to victory.
Alex Davis scored 19 points and claimed eight rebounds.
RETHYMNO CRETAN KINGS 70-63 ARIS
Aris cannot gain any momentum. Having beaten Peristeri in the eighth round, Aris were expected to kick on and pick up some traction, but Rethymno outscored their opponents 70-63 at home.
The third quarter was key as Rethymno won it 23-16.
Conner Frankamp, who has scored at least 10 points in all nine Basket League matches, registered 26 points for Rethymno.
IFAISTOS LIMNOU 68-79 IONIKOS NIKAIA
Ending their two-game losing streak in the process, Ionikos Nikaia showed their strength against Ifaistos Limnou on the road, winning by a score of 79-68.
A 12-point lead by the half-time break was enough for Ionikos Nikaia to get back to winning ways.
Loukvas Mavrokefalidis stood out with 29 points, six rebounds and two assists for the away side. Steve Burtt also impressed with 20 points.
