Greek League, Regular Season, Game 26: April 23, 2008
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Curtains came down on the Greek League regular season with Panathinaikos celebrating the first spot for the sixth consecutive season. The Greens beat Panellinios 95-84 to finish 23-3 as Sarunas Jasikevicius drilled 5 three-pointers and scored 24 points and Demos Dikoudis added 22 points. Olympiacos finished second at 22-4 after the Reds crushed AGO Rethymnon 80-48 to force the Crete team to relegation behind 13 points from Jake Tsakalidis. Visiting Aris TT Bank got 22 points and 15 rebounds from Jeremiah Massey to grab bragging rights in the Thessaloniki derby with a 74-75 win over PAOK, but PAOK survived in the top category after AEK’s 74-79 win in Rhodes over Kolossos. Shasha Vasiljevic fired in 6 three-pointers en route to 24 points for AEK. Panionios suffered a defeat without any consequence as they clinched fourth place despite losing 84-73 to Olympia Larissa. The latter earned a birth to the playoffs; Michael King bagged 27 points, while Aleksander Capin led the scoring for Panionios with 16 in defeat. In other games, Maroussi did not face trouble in beating AE Larissa 90-74 as Kostas Haralampidis and Kostas Kaimakoglou netted 18 points apiece, while Egaleo smashed already relegated Olympiada Patras 102-66 behind 20 points on 6 three-pointers from Prodromos Nikolaidis. The first round playoff match-ups stand as follows: Panathinaikos vs. Olympia Larissa; Olympiacos vs. AEK; Aris vs. Maroussi; and Panionios vs. Panellinios. The series are all best of three and the first and third games, if necessary, will be played at Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Aris and Panionios, respectively.
At OAKA Sports Hall, Panellinios only managed to stay close for one quarter before falling 95-84 at the Greens. Demos Dikoudis came in off the bench to push Panathinaikos and the hosts never look back; Dikoudis finished with 22 points on a perfect 3 for 3 from three-point range. Sarunas Jasikevicius was hot from the perimeter too, chipping in 5 triples in 6 attempts in his way to 24 points, Dimitris Diamantidis added 19 points and Vassilis Spanoulis contributed 11. The league’s top scorer, Anthony Grundy, netted 30 for Panellinios in defeat.
Olympiacos head coach Panagiotis Giannakis offered at least 11 minutes of action to every Red player. Jake Tsakalidis actually got the least playing time, but returned the most points, 13. Qyntel Woods reached also double figures with 10 points as every Olympiacos player put his name on the scoreboard for the final 80-48 over AGO Rethymnon. After playing some minutes in the Euroleague, Renaldas Seibutis returned to the Greek League, too, with 3 points in 14 minutes, after a long absence due to a back injury. Ian Vouyoukas, on loan from Olympiacos, led the way for AGO Rethymnon with 14 points in a losing effort that meant relegation for the Cretan representatives.
PAOK desperately wanted the win over Aris at PAOK Sports Arena in order to secure its place in the A1 category. The hosts may not have managed to beat their rival, but good news came for them when Kolossos Rhodes lost to AEK that resulted PAOK stay in the top category. After a tight battle in front of a passionate and hostile crowd, Aris grabbed the 74-75 win thanks to a made free throw by Darius Washington and after Nikos Kouvelas missed the opportunity to give PAOK the win at the buzzer. Jeremiah Massey was brilliant with 22 points and 15 rebounds, Washington posted 19 points and Savvas Iliadis had 11. Giorgos Tsiakos totaled 23 points and 8 boards for PAOk and Aris born and raised Dimitris Charitopoulos bagged 18 points, 6 rebounds and Mamadou Diarra contributed 15 points for PAOK in defeat.
LAST GAME GAME 26
April 23, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Apr. 23 | EGALEO vs. AEP OLYMPIAS | 102-66 | | Apr. 23 | P.A.O.K. vs. ARIS T.T.BANK | 74-75 | | Apr. 23 | KOLOSSOS RODOU vs.A.E.K. | 74-79 | | Apr. 23 | OLYMPIA vs. PANIONIOS | 84-73 | | Apr. 23 | MAROUSI vs. A.E.L. | 90-74 | | Apr. 23 | PANATH. vs.PANELLINIOS | 95-84 | | Apr. 23 | OLYMPIACOS vs. ALMECO | 80-48 |
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NEXT GAME
Quarterfinal Playoffs | | Match | | Panathinaikos (1) vs. Olympia L. (8) | | Olympiacos (2) vs. AEK (7) | | Aris (3) vs. Maroussi (6) | | Panionios (4) vs. Panellinios (5) | | - | | - | | - |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | PANATHINAIKOS | 26 | 23 | 3 | 2319 | 1857 | | 2 | OLYMPIACOS | 26 | 22 | 4 | 2208 | 1835 | | 3 | ARIS T.T.BANK | 26 | 18 | 8 | 1951 | 1816 | | 4 | PANIONIOS OnTelecoms | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2022 | 1935 | | 5 | PANELLINIOS | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2010 | 1997 | | 6 | MAROUSI COSTA COFFEE | 26 | 13 | 13 | 1930 | 1934 | | 7 | A.E.K. | 26 | 13 | 13 | 1920 | 1902 | | 8 | OLYMPIA ATHIENITIS | 26 | 12 | 14 | 1834 | 1856 | | 9 | EGALEO | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2036 | 2085 | | 10 | A.E.L. | 26 | 11 | 15 | 1934 | 2033 | | 11 | KOLOSSOS RODOU | 26 | 9 | 17 | 1990 | 2213 | | 12 | P.A.O.K. | 26 | 9 | 17 | 1845 | 1985 | | 13 | A.G.O.R. ALMECO | 26 | 9 | 17 | 1836 | 1922 | | 14 | A.E.P. OLYMPIAS | 26 | 3 | 23 | 1793 | 2258 |
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
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