2010 started just fine for Aris, who clinched an easy road victory against G.S. Olympia Larissas by 62-79 (half-time score: 30-47), for Match Day 10 of the Hellenic Championships 2009-10. Despite the absence of injured Kakiouzis and Barlos, the “yellows” imposed themselves since the beginning and played very well for most of the game, Richardson and Betts being the team’s top scorers.
Fotis Katsikaris’s players were “hot” in attack since the jump-ball and weren’t down in the score at any moment. After 3 minutes of parity (9-9), they stroke both with three-pointers and shots from the paint, as well as fast-breaks. So, they made it 11-19 and later on 13-24, as the zone defense of the local team couldn’t stop them.
The “yellows” were just as good in the second quarter, both in defense and attack. Their lead was never smaller than 8 points and in fact it grew bigger: 15 points (26-41) with 1:30 remaining and 17 points (30-47) just before half-time, thanks to a three-pointer by Argyropoulos. At the end of the first half, Aris had tremendous scoring percentage (13/15 two-pointers, 6/12 three-pointers), as well as 11 assists.
The third period started even better for the visitors, who kept on playing great defense, thus raising their lead to 22 points (30-52 at 23’) and then 23 (34-57 at 27:20), which was the biggest difference in the game. Nevertheless, in the remaining minutes they lost concentration and G.S. Olympia had a 10-0 run (44-57).
The local team’s comeback didn’t stop there. In the beginning of the last quarter, they managed to cut Aris’s lead down to 7 points (52-59 στο 32’), having an 18-2 streak within 6 minutes. But then, the “yellows” responded well and didn’t leave to their opponents any realistic chances of turning things around. Richardson scored some important shots, the margin was once again well above 10 points and the final score, 62-79, came easily.
Referees: Gontas (Athens), Goumas (Thessaloniki), Kaldiris (Athens).
Periods: 15-26, 30-47 (half-time), 44-59, 62-79.
G.S. OLYMPIA LARISAS (Giorgos Kalafatakis): Spanos 2, Alijevas, Demond Greene 7 (1), Papachristos, Devin Green 17, Bogdanos 2, Todic 4 (1), Papakostas, Kommatos 4 (1), Karavanas, Massie 15, Butler 11 (3).
ARIS (Fotis Katsikaris): Clark 10 (2), Argyropoulos 5 (1), Betts 17, Richardson 21 (5), Chatzivrettas 9 (1), Dikoudis 6, Skordilis 2, Papanikolaou 2, Miles 7, Chrysikopoulos, Mourtos.
Photos: Giorgos Ioannou / Icon Press
