“Sweet” defeat for PAOK against Galatasaray and home advantage in the BCL Play-Ins against Tofas

PAOK had Galatasaray’s home advantage as they qualified second in the BCL Play-Ins despite losing 85-79 to the Turks. There they meet Tofas with home advantage against the background of qualifying for the “16” of the competition.

The Black and Whites came back from -17 and had the mental reserves to get back into the game and secure second place.

Great game from key player Kendall Smith with 16 points (3/7 three-pointers), 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Important contribution from Justin Alston with 14 points.

The race

PAOK didn’t start the game well and looked problematic defensively, which allowed Galatasaray to end the first period at +8, with the protagonist Gemboa appearing unstoppable. Things improved in the second quarter with Fotis Takianou’s players getting big shots from Kendall Smith and Nikos Tsiakmas. The defense became a little stronger, but the Black and Whites were -5 at the break and everything remained open for 2nd place (44-49).

In the second half, the Turkish team continued at the same pace without PAOK having an answer. Galata overcame double-digit differences and put the black and whites under a lot of pressure. Takianos’ team finished the third quarter at -12 and chased home advantage from an unfavorable position in the play-ins. Despite being -17, the Black and Whites had the mental reserves to come back and reduce the deficit back to single digits, dropping them firmly into second place. PAOK kept their composure and took second place despite an 85:79 defeat.

THE REFEREES: Conte, Gedvilas, Matejek

THE DECADES: 22-30, 44-49, 64-76, 79-85

PAOK (Takianos): Alston 14 (1/3 3-pointers), Beliauskas 1, Fridriksson 9, Margaritis 3, Smith 16 (6 rebounds, 4 assists), Arsenopoulos, Gilmore 3, Harrison 4 (3 assists), Schizas 8 (2 /2 threes), Sotiriou, Tsairelis 12 (4 assists), Tsiakmas 9

GALATASARAI (Mitrovic): Bost 8 (5 assists), Koksal 6, McCormack 10 (7 rebounds), Prepelic 8 (10 assists), Walden 2, Gegik, Halilovic 17 (6 rebounds), Kampaja 17 (6 rebounds), Radenbo 6, Tuncher, Vatan, Jemboa 26 (7 rebounds).

PAOK’s team statistics: 11/26 2-pointers, 14/26 3-pointers, 15/24 shots, 27 rebounds, 19 assists, 11 turnovers, 8 steals, 1 block

Galatasaray team statistics: 12/24 2-pointers, 14/34 3-pointers, 19/25 shots, 35 rebounds, 27 assists, 12 turnovers, 10 steals