The Greek side's playoff hopes were helped by securing this victory.
Aris downs Lietkabelis at home, 69-60, snaps four-game losing skid



Aris Midea Thessaloniki grabbed a crucial victory in the fight to stay in the race for the BKT EuroCup Playoffs by defeating 7bet-Lietkabelis Paneveyzs at home, 69-60, to snap a four-game losing streak. Aris finished the game on a 13-3 run, but it was unable to make up the difference from the first matchup — an 84-74 Lietkabelis home win — which means the Lithuanian side holds the tiebreaker between the teams.
Ronnie Harrell scored 18 points to lead the way for Aris, which is now 4-7 in Group B. Vassilis Toliopoulos added 16 points and Roberto Gallinat chipped in 13 points. Lietkabelis has now lost three straight to fall to 4-7. The Lithuanian club could not take advantage of Deividas Sirvydis scoring 16 points, as it committed 23 turnovers.
Game Videos
The threeball aided Aris
Lietkabelis had just 10 players on the night, with two of the missing players being its top two point guards, Vytenis Lipkevicius and Donatas Sabeckis. Roberts Blumbergs scored Aris’s first 5 points for a 5-2 early score and Gediminas Orelik’s three-pointer gave the guests their first lead, 5-7. The game went back and forth with seven lead changes as Gallinat hit 2 three-pointers and Harrell had 1 as Aris moved ahead, 18-14. The score was 18-16 after 10 minutes.
Lietkabelis had two 3-minute dry spells
Marcus Carr’s three-point play started the second quarter and Gallinat drained a triple. Aris went ahead 24-16 as it took Lietkabelis more than 3 minutes to score. Nikola Popovic answered with the next 4 points, only to have Harrell and Toliopoulos hit triples to make it 30-20. Lietkabelis went scoreless for more than 3 minutes until an Orelik triple, but another Harrell three-pointer had the hosts up 35-24 at intermission.
Lietkabelis fought back after the break
Sirvydis scored Lietkabelis’s first 5 points of the second half and Aris’s scoring woes early on allowed the guests get within 37-34 on Martynas Varnas’s layup. Harrell responded with a couple of layups for Aris, but Sirvydis converted a three-point play and Lietkabelis was down just 41-40. Silvio de Sousa punched back with the next 4 points, with Aris leading 47-44 after 30 minutes.
Aris saw the win over the line
De Sousa continued his strong stretch with a layup and jumper as Aris grabbed a 51-44 lead. Lietkabelis needed more than 2 minutes to score, but Stefan Bircevic and Sirvydis both knocked down three-pointers to close the gap to 51-50. An unsportsmanlike foul on Gallinat resulted in a Varnas free throw, before a second Bircevic triple saw Lietkabelis take the lead, 53-54. After Toliopoulos and Varnas both hit triples, Aris made 4 free throws and Harrell pushed the margin to 62-57. Lietkabelis only scored one basket in the final 3 minutes and 2 turnovers by the guests in the final minute allowed Gallinat’s layup with 19 seconds to secure the win at 66-59. Aris was still hoping to maybe take the tiebreaker, but Sirvydis converted 1 free throw with 9 seconds left.