Victory after 11 consecutive losses for Karditsa, who defeated Apollon

After 11 consecutive losses, Karditsa picked up a very important home win, beating Apollon Patras 80-65 in the closed Yiannis Bourousis. Nikos Papanikolopoulos’ side tasted the joy of the second round of the Basket League when they defeated Kolossos Rhodes with a Batemon buzzer-beater behind the middle. Of course, the player in question is no longer in the team’s squad, while there has also been a change of coach on the bench as Vangelis Angelou was at the helm at the time.

This result is particularly important considering that both teams will be fighting to stay in the top flight as Karditsa was able to equalize the difference to the first leg (ss. had been beaten 78-72 on Matchday 3).

The race

Panagiotis Filippakos’ 3/3-threes were what kept Apollo near Karditsa in the first third (15-12, 10′).

In the second period it was David Gabrovsek’s turn to shine and help the hosts with his own points to go into the dressing room with +16 (42:46, 20th).

With a partial 10:2 up to the 24th minute, Apollo halved the difference (44:36). Despite the pressure, the hosts managed to go into the final third with a double-digit lead (61:51, 30th minute).

Two consecutive threes from Yannis Athenaiou widened the gap even further (67:51, 31’17”). The home side kept the reins until the end and allowed themselves a breather in terms of goals.

THE REFEREES: Tsarouha, Kardaris, Agrafiotis

THE DECADES: 15-12, 42-26, 61-51, 80-65

CARDS (Papanikolopoulos): Peters 4 (5 assists, 3 turnovers), Evans 13 (7 rebounds), Agravanis 4, West 6 (2), Pridget 5 (1/2 3 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists), Athenaiou 8 ( 2) , Giuzelis 9 (2/3 threes, 8 rebounds), Gabrovsek 13 (1) , Sarikopoulos 1 , Galinat 17 (1/4 threes, 3 assists)

APOLLONAS PATRAS (Vetoulas): Griffin 13 (1/6 trebles), Vertz 11 (5 assists, 5 turnovers), Davis 9 (1/3 trebles, 5 rebounds), Bogris 4 (3 rebounds, 3 assists), Mastrogiannopoulos 7 (1/ 5 3-pointers), Filippakos 17 (3/3 3-pointers, 10 rebounds), Karabelas 4 (6 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers), Calhoun

Karditsa’s team stats: 19/34 2-pointers, 9/24 3-pointers, 15/21 shots, 36 rebounds (29 defensive – 7 offensive), 22 assists, 12 turnovers, 8 steals, 3 blocks

Apollo’s team stats: 17/35 two-pointers, 6/20 three-pointers, 13/18 shots, 27 rebounds (23 defense – 4 offense), 17 assists, 16 errors, 6 steals

The next games of the two teams: On the 15th day of the Basket League, Karditsa meets Prometheus in Patras (February 4th), Apollonas plays at Andreas Papandreou (February 4th) against Peristeri bwin.