The Greek side went up a couple of gears after the break to come away with the win in front of a European basketball legend.
Sublime fourth quarter on offense inspired Aris to victory over Trento
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Regular Season
Round 18 of 18
Group B
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Rightfully considered to be one of the best defenses in the BKT EuroCup, Aris Midea Thessaloniki demonstrated on Wednesday night that it can also win games with its offense.
In Round 18, the Greek side defeated Dolomiti Energia Trento 84-77 at home to clinch fifth spot in Group B and thus guarantee qualification to the eighthfinals, where it will play on the road at Prometey Slobozhanske.
Trento was in control throughout the first half, but Aris’s defense held the guests to just 11 points in the third quarter. The Italian side took a narrow 51-52 lead into the final period, where the hosts outscored their opponent 33-25 to clinch the victory in front of an ecstatic crowd, which included European basketball legend Nikos Galis in attendance.
A fourth period to remember
This was Aris’s highest scoring quarter this season and its second highest of all time in the competition, having previously netted 36 points in their 89-86 defeat at Bnei Hasharon back in 2009.
“This is a great achievement for our players, for the whole organization and our fans,” head coach Ioannis Kastritis said in the flash interview after the game. “In our first season back in the European competition, and in EuroCup specifically, we had nine victories and one more great performance tonight. These guys deserve a lot. We are very happy. We are very proud and we move on.”
Trento took to the Nikos Galis Hall court looking for a win that would secure its place in the playoffs. The visitors dictated the pace of the game in the first half and scored 41 points against the stingiest defense in the league, as Aris conceded an average of 75.0 points coming into Wednesday’s clash.
Erupting on offense after the break
Yet, the Greek side bounced back after the break, outscoring Trento 17-11 in the third quarter and going on to net a total of 50 second-half points to clinch its fifth home win in the regular season.
“I have to congratulate the players for the way they made the comeback, even if we didn’t start the game the way we wanted to,” Kastritis commented in the post-game press conference. “No matter what happened during the game, our guys were on the same page, they executed the plan the way they are doing it every time and we are very happy that we won.”
In fact, the 50 points Aris scored after halftime were the most the Greek team has netted in one half this season. Should Kastritis’s men build on their offensive display in the fourth quarter and their defensive performance in the third, Aris will have nothing to fear against Prometey.
Having beaten ratiopharm Ulm on the road, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens away from home in the Greek League and Trento in Thessaloniki in the space of one week, Aris has demonstrated that the sky is the limit for this team.