Aris’s winning streak stopped in Kavala, where was defeated 86-81 (halftime 47-36) by the local team, for the Game 25 of the Hellenic Championships 2009-2010. David Blatt’s team, which once more had to play without injured Andrew Betts, couldn’t impose itself and didn’t take the lead at any point, in spite of the constant effort to do so.

Kavala’s players took off in a better way and maintained the lead since the first moment. The 1st period ended with a 6-point margin (21-15), which got even bigger in the 2nd. They reached a double-digit lead for the first time in minute 17 (39-29) and ended the first half at “+11”, thanks to a free throw by the team’s leading scorer, Alexis Kyritsis.

The “yellows” tried to turn things around in the 3rd quarter, just when Kavala extended the lead at its maximum height, 14 points (53-39). At that point, the responded with a 0-11 run, which made it 53-50, but the local team reacted pretty quick and scored 10 in a row, thus making it 65-52 just before the end of the period.

Aris didn’t abandon the fight in the 4th quarter and trimmed the difference down to 5 (82-77) with 2:20 to go. However, a missed shot and a three-pointer scored by Taquan Dean complicated things once more. They only got to come as close as 4 points (85-81) with 15’’3 remaining, but Walsh missed a free throw and in the next attack Aggelopoulos stole the ball, putting an end to it.

Periods: 21-15, 47-36 (halftime), 65-52, 86-81.

Referees: Christodoulou (Patras), Koromilas (Athens), Panagiotou (Patras).

KAVALA (Vaggelis Alexandris): Kyritsis 24 (1), Sundov, Stefanidis, Aggelopoulos 3 (1), Huff, Simmons 1, Iliadis, Palacio 21 (2), Rajcevic 9 (3), Sigounas, Ceranic 13, Dean 15 (5).

ARIS (David Blatt): Clark 9 (2), Miles 11, Walsh 9 (1), Richardson 24 (4), Chatzivrettas, Dikoudis 4, Skordilis, Paunic 1, Kakiouzis 13 (1), Barlos 10 (2).