 Maroussi Costa Coffee topped Chorale Roanne 88-73 behind a big games from Loukas Mavrokefalides and Kostas Charalampidis to even its record in group A at 1-1. Mavrokefalides dominated inside to the tune of 23 points and 9 rebounds, while Charalampidis shot 5 for 7 from downtown en route to 17 points to lead Maroussi to the big home win. Billy Keys added 16 for the winners, who also outrebounded their opponents 35-22. Chris Monroe was the star of the night for Roanne and he tried to keep his team going with 13 third-period points, but with only one other consistent weapon on offense, Curtis Sumpter, Roanne was outmatched. Monroe finished with 22 points and Sumpter had 21 in defeat. Roanne dropped to 1-1 and will visit ASK Riga next week.
Maroussi started the game in high gear thanks mainly to Mavrokefalides who scored 7 points to build a quick 9-2 lead. A triple by Sumpter allowed Roanne to pull within 9-7, but Maroussi was unstoppable on offense. The backcourt tandem of Keys and Jarod Stevenson unleashed a barrage of triples to punish the zone defense and break the game open, 20-11. Out of a Roanne time-out, Keys reloaded his pistol to connect from downtown. However, with Sumpter as their go-to guy, the guests sliced the margin 23-18. Once again though, Maroussi pulled a triple up its sleeve – this time with Charalampidis – to close the first quarter in fashion with a 26-18 lead. Mohamed Kone opened the second quarter with a triple, yet the hosts were not willing to step off the gas. Stavros Toutziarakis came off the bench to score a basket and the free throw that came with it and then Fanis Koumpouras fed Mavrokefalides to build a 31-21 advantage. A few possessions later, Mavrokefalides was the recipient of another Koumpouras assist to make it 35-26, but Roanne did not fold. So, when Brice Nengsu drove to score a jumper and the subsequent free-throw, the guests had clawed their way back, 40-36. Then, as Maroussi had clearly lost its composure on defense, Monroe knocked down a 3-pointer to fix the halftime score at 43-42.
 Even though Charalambides fired in from beyond the arc to keep the hosts going, Monroe was downright dominant on offense as he contributed 7 points to give the guests a 48-51 lead. Suddenly Charalambides went on fire and bombarded 3 consecutive triples to leave Roanne gasping for air, while Maroussi reclaimed the advantage, 57-54. Keys followed with a three-pointer of his own to widen the gap even more and despite Monroe’s efforts – he scored 13 in the third quarter – Roanne could not get closer than 62-59 with one period left to play. In the final quarter, Mavrokefalides took over, tormenting the guests in the paint and helping Maroussi to forge a double-digit lead, 71-61. Then the hosts capitalized on an unsportsmanlike foul by Kone to keep Roanne at bay, 75-61, with five minutes to go. However, the hosts cooled off offensively for a while, allowing Roanne to pull within 75-67 and keep its chances for a late upset alive. This did not happen though, as another unsportsmanlike foul forced the guests to eventually throw in the towel and surrender 88-73.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Epameinondas Tsakalos, Athens
|