Ray lifts AEK past Bonn at rocking OAKA  

BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - PLAY OFFS (LEG 1)

A wonderful performance from Kendrick Ray powered AEK to a 92-85 home victory against Bonn in the first game of the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 series.

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For long periods, it seemed that an off-colour AEK would suffer a bitter defeat at the OAKA Indoor Hall, but a scintillating fourth quarter and heroics from the majestic Ray ensured that the Athenians took the initiative in the best-of-three series. Next Tuesday, the second match will take place in Germany, with AEK guaranteed progression with another win.

A victory for Bonn would send the series to a decider in Athens.

Ray shone for AEK with 27 points and six three-pointers. Keith Langford, returning to European action after a spell on the sidelines injured, tallied 20 points. 

Joshiko Saibou (19 points), Martin Breunig (16 points) and Alec Brown (16 points) enjoyed a productive evening for Bonn.

THE MATCH

AEK, playing inside a packed OAKA, made a fast start with Ray and Vlado Jankovic draining three-pointers.

Bonn, however, weren’t fazed by the intense atmosphere. Keeping pace with AEK, Brown and Trey McKinney Jones landed impressive dunks for Bonn on the counter, and Ilias Papathedorou was forced into calling a time-out with the Germans leading 17-13.

A time-out which had the desired effect. Eager to play on the front foot, AEK subsequently hit three successive three-pointers, two of them coming from the in-form Ray. The Enosi saw out a highly entertaining first period of play to lead 28-26.

Nevertheless, Bonn weren’t about to let AEK build up momentum, and Breunig drew the away team level with a powerful one-handed dunk.

Bonn were feeling increasingly confident in the Greek capital. Taking aim from behind the arc, Saibou struck gold, just seconds after Marcus Slaughter had landed a meaningful block on an opponent.

To their credit, though, AEK did conjure up a response. All of a sudden, AEK started to dictate the pace of the game as they began competing with more adrenaline. Linos Chrysikopoulos netted a three-point shot to make sure that AEK held a 52-50 lead at the half-time break.

Unfortunately for AEK, however, the game started to fall apart in the third quarter. 

Brown connected with two three-pointers in a row at the start of the third period to shift the momentum in favour of Bonn. As the frame continued, AEK played with a notably panicky approach, often losing needlessly losing possession and unleashing poor shots. With the score level at 64-64, Saibou scored a tough three-point shot when under pressure, a moment which visibly deflated AEK. Bonn ended up taking the stanza 20-12 to put themselves in the box seat.

AEK, down by six, promptly came flying out of the blocks in the fourth quarter as Jonas Maciulis majestically cut the deficit to three. 

The Lithuanian was the player to hand AEK a 71-70 advantage when calmly laying the ball in with seven minutes remaining.

Ray and Maciulis subsequently scored from downtown and suddenly, with the OAKA rocking, AEK led by four as Bonn struggled to handle the onslaught from their Greek opponents. 

The talented American guard put Bonn in real trouble when hitting two three-pointers on the bounce.

Leading by seven with three minutes left on the clock, AEK were not willing to sacrifice victory, and the Enosi held on to emerge victorious and take a major step towards the quarter-finals of the competition.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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