Aris got a valuable victory over Panionios by 95-78 (halftime score 44-42) at Alexandrio Melathro, for Game 19 of the Hellenic Championships 2009-2010, and was able to move up in the standings table. The “yellows” made it behind 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals by Matt Walsh, and will have the advantage in case of a final tie with Panionios, to which they had lost 74-70 in the first round.
David Blatt’s players made a 9-0 run just after the beginning and led 11-5 before minute 4. Then, it was Betts the one to score quite a few baskets in the paint and Aris built a 9-point lead (19-10, 3:54 before the end). However, the visitors found ways to score and cut the difference down towards the end of the first quarter.
Things didn’t really change in the second period, although the “yellows” led by 8 (31-23) with 6:20 remaining. Panionios responded with their own 0-7 run and eventually tied to 36-36, 2:25 before halftime. Nevertheless, Walsh was unstoppable in attack and his team was up by 2 at halftime.
A true display of power was about to follow in the third quarter, during which Aris was full of energy and scored no less than 30 points, with 6 out 8 three-point shots. Clark gave his team a double-digit lead (57-47), Walsh made it 14 (65-51) and Chatzivrettas 16 shortly after that (68-52, 2:30 before the end). Theperiodended74-59and the game was practically over.
The last quarter was more like a party for David Blatt’s team, which soon extended their lead up to 22 points (81-59, with 8:07 remaining). The biggest difference was 23 (89-66, with 2:30 to go, thanks to a goal - foul by Dikoudis) and the final score 95-78 left all Aris fans more than happy.
Referees: Leonidas Spyridonos (Patras), Giorgos Tanatzis (Katerini), Kostas Stamatopoulos (Volos).
Periods: 24-21, 44-42 (halftime), 74-59, 95-78.
ARIS (David Blatt): Clark 18 (4), Argyropoulos 2, Miles 3, Betts 15, Walsh 22 (2), Richardson 16 (2), Chatzivrettas 7 (2), Dikoudis 5, Paunic, Kakiouzis 2, Barlos 5 (1).
PANIONIOS (Nenad Markovic): Rice 16 (2), Bryant 2, Zoroski 12 (2), Papanikolaou 13 (2), Giannopoulos 3 (1), Haritopoulos 8, Kalambokis 7 (1), Erceg 14 (1), Elder 3.
