Although they were under pressure in the fourth and final quarter of the game, Petrolina AEK defeated APOEL 83-79 in a game held at “Kition” for the second round of the ECOMMBX Basket League, making it two wins out of two. It was the first loss for the blue-and-yellows.
APOEL scored the first basket of the game with Simitzis, but Petrolina AEK then went on a six-point run with three points from Hunt and a three-pointer from Mucius (6-2), shortly after the one-minute mark. At the 6-minute mark, McKinnis’s layup pushed the lead into double digits (21-11), a margin that held until the end of the first quarter, which closed with a two-pointer by Pavlidis (30-18).
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Second win for Keravnos, who defeated Digenis
Live: Aris vs. AEK
The home team’s run continued at the start of the second quarter, and at the 12-minute mark, Diggs’s basket extended the lead to 17 points (35-18). Shortly before the 16-minute mark, the blue-and-yellows cut the deficit to nine with a two-pointer by Gaffney (37-28), while a minute and a half before the end of the second quarter, the deficit was down to eight after a sequence of a two-pointer and a three-pointer by Funderburk (44-36). The yellow-and-greens restored the double-digit lead after a three-pointer by Diggs and two free throws by Durham Li, closing out the first half with a two-pointer by Gaffney (49–38).
At the 29-minute mark, the lead stood at 14 points after a three-pointer by Varsos, and the third quarter ended with a three-pointer by Sherman and a two-pointer by Blackmon that cut the deficit to nine (70-61).
At the start of the fourth quarter, two more baskets followed from the same players, with the Nicosia team closing the gap to five points (70–65), while with 4.5 minutes left, Gaffney’s basket cut the deficit to three (74–71), and at the 37-minute mark, it was down to two (76–74) following a three-pointer by Simitzis (76-74).
The same margin (81-79) separated the two teams at the 39-minute mark following a two-pointer by Gaffney, before Varsou’s layup in the final seconds sealed the final score at 83-79.
QUARTERS: 30-18, 29-38, 70-61, 83-79
Petrolina AEK (Christos Leivadiotis)
Mucius 14 (2), Durham Li 12 (1), Tate 9 (1), Markou, Hunt 16 (3), Diggs 5 (1), Pavlidis 3, Giannaras, Varsos 10 (2), McKinnis 14
APOEL (Nikolas Papadopoulos)
Gaffney 25 (3), Simitzis 15 (3), Aggeli, Sherman 15 (1), Funderburk Jr. 14 (3), Blackmon 6, Papamichael, Skinner 2, Mantovanis 2
Quarter scores: 30-18, 49-38, 70-61, 83-79.
