Aris lost to Peristeri 69-63 (halftime score 31-30) for Game 20 of the Hellenic Championships and they will have their work cut, regarding the team’s task to finish in the top six of the regular season. In a game which was held at the empty “Andreas Papandreou” Sports Hall, due to the local team’s ban, the “yellows” had quite a few problems to deal with, since injured Jeremy Richardson was absent and Andrew Betts couldn’t play either, due to the tachycardia he suffered during training on Monday (15/03).

The start was great for David Blatt’s players, who focused on defense and kept a clean sheet for almost 4:30, thus getting to a 0-7 lead. However, the home team reacted and made it 9-7, taking advantage of Aris’s problems in rebounds and on the inside game. The “yellows”managed tokeepthescorelowin the 1st half, but the 3rd period was totally different. Peristeri took a 6-point lead (41-35 at 24’), Aris responded with a 0-10 run (44-48 at 28’) thanks to consecutive three-point shots, but Thanasis Skourtopoulos’s team scored 7 in a row and was 3 up (51-48) in the end of the 3rd quarter.

In the beginning of the 4th period, Faison made thing more difficult for Aris, giving his team a 7-point lead (57-50 at 34’). A couple of minutes later, the difference got at its peak (8 points for Peristeri, 61-53), but the “yellows” tried to make a comeback. They cut the difference down to 4 points, but then they missed too many shots. Although Clark made it 66-63 with 17’’5 to go, he couldn’t score from the arc in the remaining seconds and it was all over for Aris.

Periods: 11-13, 31-30 (halftime), 51-48, 69-63.

Referees: Christodoulou, Koromilas, Diamantis.

PERISTERI (Thanasis Skourtopoulos): Hammonds14 (2), Agadakos 2, Papanikolopoulos, V. Mantzaris 4, Bramos 6 (1), Faison16 (3), Nelson, Wilkinson, Tsiakos 10 (1), Arnold 17 (2).

ARIS (David Blatt): Clark 25 (4), Argyropoulos, Walsh 11 (1), Chatzivrettas 5 (1), Dikoudis 4, Skordilis 2, Paunic, Kakiouzis 6, Barlos 7 (1), Miles 3 (1).