The French forward paired his 24 points with 8 rebounds in solid outing on Lithuanian soil
Amine Noua sets the tone as Aris flips the switch with win at Neptunas
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 8 of 18
Regular Season
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Neptunas KlaipedaNEP
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Aris Thessaloniki BetssonARI
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Overview
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It’s been less than two weeks since the day that Aris Thessaloniki Betsson announced the arrival of former EuroLeague player Amine Noua. A slow start to the season was followed by the dismissal of head coach Bogdan Karaicic, who was replaced by Igor Milicic. Reinforcements were on their way too, with Noua being the first midseason signing in Aris’s bid to beef up its roster.
The Frenchman scored 9 points on his debut against Bahcesehir College Istanbul last week, with Aris showing signs of improvement despite losing 76-86 to one of the BKT EuroCup's title contenders. What followed on Tuesday evening has definitely put a huge smile on fans’ faces, as Noua pulled off an extraordinary outing to lead Aris to an 87-93 road win at Neptunas Klaipeda.
The 28-year-old forward ended the game on 24 points, having gone 5-for-8 from inside the arc, 3-for-5 from deep and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. He also picked up 8 rebounds, 3 of which came on the offensive end. More importantly, he delivered both in his natural power-forward position, as well as at center in a small-ball formation when Aris tried to contain Neptunas’s 5-out offense.
“I feel so great right now,” Noua said after the game. “Really proud of my team tonight. We gave everything. It’s not very easy to win here at Neptunas, but we played together for 40 minutes. There were many ups and downs, but in the end we fought and we got a great win. We came from a long trip. There was lots of tiredness. But we stuck together and mentally we were there.”
Aris didn’t start the game as it may have hoped. Neptunas fired on all cylinders from beyond the rainbow and took a 28-21 lead after 10 minutes. Yet, the Greek side tightened up its defense, protected the boards and dictated the tempo to outscore the hosts 18-29 in the second quarter.
“We secured the rebounds in the second quarter, where Neptunas didn’t have a single offensive rebound,” Milicic said after the game. “We defended a little bit better in these drive-and-kick situations. We didn’t give them so many open threes. When we caught momentum, it was different. Then, we played too fast for them and we scored, as our moves from defense to offensive transition were solid. That’s why we were up at halftime.”
With Noua scoring 16 points in the first half and Elijah Mitrou-Long netting 11, Aris secured a 46-50 cushion after 20 minutes. But the Frenchman was anything but satisfied at halftime.
“We have to change the pace,” he noted. “They make so many easy baskets, easy layups, easy three-pointers. We have to make stops first and then play our game. Be intense, play with energy and keep going.”
And that’s precisely what Aris did after the break. The visitors held one of the finest offenses in the EuroCup to just 3 points in the first 7 minutes of the third quarter and went on a 0-16 spurt to open a 49-66 lead.
Neptunas responded with a 12-2 run, but Aris maintained a 64-73 advantage heading into the closing quarter. Then, Bryce Jones took over with back-to-back midrange jumpers to make it 78-90. The hosts didn’t give up and drained 3 straight triples that brought them within 87-90, making it a one-possession game with just a minute remaining.
Enter Mitrou-Long, who netted a step-back three to practically put the game to bed, allowing Aris to improve its record to 4-4.
Mitrou-Long and Jones bagged 17 points each, with the latter also recording 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals in a complete display. The two Aris guards were the players who clinched the road victory in the fourth quarter, but in Noua Aris may have well found the man who has flipped the switch for the Greek side.
With experienced guard Danilo Andjusic also joining to give Aris a midseason lift, the Greek side will look to bounce back from adversity. And the win at Neptunas may have just been the turning point for their season.
