The Greek side notched its first win of the season
Vassilis Toliopoulos leads Aris past Lietkabelis, 74-92
Game Report
3 Mins read
Aris Midea Thessaloniki recorded its first win in Group B on Tuesday night by downing 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 74-92 at Kalnapilio Arena in Round 3. Aris improved to 1-2 in the standings while Lietkabelis dropped to 0-3.
Vassilis Toliopoulos paced the winners with 26 points on 6-of-8 three-pointers. Lefteris Bochoridis added 13 while Emmanouil Chatzidakis and David DeJulius each had 12 for Aris. Mantas Rubstavicius led Lietkabelis with 15 points. Marko Pecarski added 13 Georgios Kalaitzakis got 12 while Dovic Bickauskis had 10 for the hosts.
Rubstavicius got Lietkabelis going with a driving basket and Gabrielius Maldunas added a jump hook. James Banks scored twice in the paint to tie it at 4-4. Banks matched Pecarski's dunk with his third jump hook, then Oleksandr Kovliar's jumper restored an 8-6 Lietkabelis lead. Eleftherios Mantzoukas took over with a fast-break layup and Toliopoulos buried back-to-back three-pointers to make the hosts call a timeout at 10-14. Rubstavicius and Kalaitzakis stepped up to bring Lietkabelis within 16-17. Toliopoulos scored in penetration to restore a 16-19 Aris lead after 10 minutes.
Bickauskis surprised Aris's defense with a backdoor layup, then Martynas Varnas kept the hosts within 20-21. Mantzoukas and Bochoridis each struck from downtown in a 0-10 Aris run in which Rawle Alkins added a jumper and a two-handed dunk, good for a 20-31 lead. Pecarski scored in the low post before DeJulius hit back with a floater. Rubstavicius and Grantas Vasiliauskas fueled a 6-0 run that brought Lietkabelis within 28-33. Chatzidakis scored in the paint, getting help from Toliopoulos and Bochoridis to keep Aris out of trouble, 32-42, at halftime.
Pecarski and Trey Woodbury traded baskets soon after the break. Rubstavicius and Pecarski kept pacing Lietkabelis but Aris started to find easy baskets in the paint, with Banks and Joshua Roberts keeping the guests fully in charge, 40-49. Bochoridis downed a six-meter jumper and found Chatzidakis for a layup. De Julius added a fast-break basket and Woodbury's second-chance layup made Lietkabelis stop the game at 45-57. Toliopoulos buried an off-balance floater in the lane and added a three-pointer that broke the game open, 48-64. Bochoridis took over with a layup-plus-foul, then Kalaitzakis and Bickauskis brought Lietkabelis a bit closer, 55-70, after 30 minutes.
Chatzidakis stepped up with a put-back layup early in the fourth quarter and a red-hot Toliopoulos sank his fifth triple in as many attempts, good for a 55-75 Aris lead. Vasiliauskas followed a fadeaway jumper with a big dunk in traffic to give Lietkabelis hope, 61-75, with 8 minutes left. Toliopoulos struck from beyond the arc and Chatzidakis scored again to seal the outcome, 65-80. Lietkabelis could not come back in the final 4 minutes, as Aris kept full control of the game until the final buzzer.
Game Leaders
MANTASRUBSTAVICIUS
MANTASRUBSTAVICIUS
17
Performance Index Rating(PIR)
VASSILISTOLIOPOULOS
VASSILISTOLIOPOULOS
26
