Lavrio smelled blood playing with AEK (see fatigue from playing Limoges) and bit! Christos Serelis’ players put on their best performance this year, letting Ano Liosion (95-81) triumph with a big win in their bid to avoid relegation.

The guests took an early lead, which they extended to +17 early in the third period. And whenever AEK tried to counterattack, they had the answer. First with Iosif Koloveros and then with Theodoris Zara, on the way to the great double that can change the balance in the bottom places of the Basket League.

Lavrio got 25 points (!) from AEK’s 18 errors while they had five players with double-digit points. Poor overall picture for the Union, with no energy and more errors than assists (16 assists from 18 errors), in an inevitable loss on performance.

The race

Lavrio made sure to show AEK early on that they’re going to have a hard time. Armed with the offensive consistency and marksmanship of Yiannis Kouseloglou from the 6:75 mark (11 points on 3/3 threes at halftime), Christos Serelis’ team took the lead and maintained it until the end of the first half (36-42 ) where AEK faced too many problems. Elias Kanzouris’ players didn’t have the defensive energy or composure (7 assists for 10 errors) to find the free shots they needed.

And if everyone expected the break to clear AEK players’ minds and give them the reason to counterattack, it didn’t. In fact, a diametrically opposite circumstance arose. Lavrio was stormy at the beginning of the third period and thanks to 11 unanswered points he increased the lead to +17 (36-53 at 23′) and put even more pressure on the opposition.

Given the conditions, Elias Kanzouris gave Vlado Jankovic and Kenny Williams “free rein” to take initiatives and difficult shots, which worked, but only for a few minutes. You see, the Union was reduced to eight (48-56 at 28′) but Yellow-Black supremacy didn’t last long.

Lavrio stopped and thanks to Iosif Koloverou’s accumulated points, the difference narrowed back to +17 (62-79 at 34′), sending the message to AEK that they won’t give them another chance. A little later, Thodoris Zara’s two threes in a row came to write the epilogue of the game.

THE REFEREES: Papapetrou – Katrachouras – Konstantinidou.

THE DECADES: 20-23, 36-42, 56-67, 81-95.

AEK (Kantzouris): Frazier (0/4 shots, 5 rebounds), Xanthopoulos 8 (2 threes, 3 assists), McGriff 4, Jankovic 15 (2/3 threes, 7 rebounds, 4 errors), Mitchell 11 (4/6 twos , 3/4 shots, 7 rebounds), Petropoulos 2, Flionis 4, Miles 10 (3/5 threes, 6 rebounds), Gondikas 7, Papadakis 3 (1/6 threes), Williams 17 (7/8 two-pointers, 1/5 three-hand).

LAURIO (Serelis): Gray 5 (1), Flagg 12 (0/3 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Cole 23 (3/4 2-pointers, 3/8 3-pointers, 8/8 shots, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Nikolaidis 4, Langewein, Zaras 19 (4/4 trebles, 3 assists), Koloveros 13 (1), Kouseloglou 17 (2/3 doubles, 3/4 trebles, 4/ 6 shots, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), Geromichalos 2 (0/4 threes).

Team stats from AEK: 23/36 doubles, 9/28 trebles, 8/13 shots, 36 rebounds (24 defense + 12 offense), 16 assists, 18 fouls, 4 steals.

Lavrio’s team stats: 19/27 2-pointers, 12/29 3-pointers, 21/29 shots, 25 rebounds (22 defense + 3 offense), 18 assists, 9 turnovers, 8 steals.

The next games of the two teams: AEK meets Panionios in the quarter-finals of the Greek OPAP Cup Final Eight, while Lavrio meets Apollon Patras again on Saturday 4 March.