Greece – A1 Round 2: Olympiacos hand first defeat to Panathinaikos

Matt Lojeski There were only 2 rounds played so far and it’s still very beginning of the Regular Season in A1. Coincidentally all hosts won their games. There were many interesting games last round. The round ended with loss of the undefeated team, derby games and favorites losing the games.The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Panathinaikos (1-1) in Athens on Monday night. Visitors were rolled over by Olympiacos (2-0) 88-63. Olympiacos outrebounded Panathinaikos 46-26 including a 19-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was American-Belgian guard Matt Lojeski (198-85, college: Hawaii, agency: Pensack Sports) who scored 15 points and 9 rebounds. The former international Georgios Printezis (204-85, agency: Octagon Europe) chipped in 18 points and 5 rebounds. Olympiacos’ coach Giannis Sfairopoulos felt very confident that he used 11 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American forward Chris Singleton (206-89, college: Florida St.) produced 10 points for the guests. Olympiacos is looking forward to face Doxa Lefkadas (#7) on the road in the next round where they are favorite. Panathinaikos will play against Koroivos and is hoping to prove to their fans that the loss was just an accident. An exciting game was played in Rethymno. AGOR faced Aris. Host AGOR (2-0) defeated guests from Thessaloniki (1-1) 69-60. American point guard Gary Talton (185-90, college: Ill.-Chicago) orchestrated the victory by scoring 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Haralampos Giannopoulos contributed with 11 points and 8 rebounds for the winners. The former international center Vasileios Kavvadas (204-91) replied with 18 points (on 6-of-7 shooting from the field) for Aris. Aris’ coach Dimitris Priftis rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn’t help. AGOR will play against Apollon Patras (#12) on the road in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Aris’ supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Thessaloniki PAOK. We should mention about the upset which took place in Thessaloniki, where Kolossos (0-2) lost to PAOK (1-1) in a road game 73-85 on Saturday. Linos-Spyridon Chrysikopoulos scored 19 points and 5 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners. PAOK’s coach Soulis Markopoulos used an eleven-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. Langston Hall responded with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. PAOK’s supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Thessaloniki to the arena Aris. An interesting game took place in Trikallon, where Apollon Patras (0-2) lost to Aiolos Trikallon (1-1) in a road game 60-65. Angelo Tsagarakis notched 16 points to lead the effort. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Aiolos Trikallon’s next round opponent will be Lavrio (#6) on the road. Apollon Patras will play against AGOR (#2) and hope to win that game. The game with biggest result difference took place in Athens. Local AEK Athens (2-0) outscored Lavrio (1-1) 96-56 on Saturday night. The best player for the winners was Michael Dixon who scored 12 points and 4 assists. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. AEK Athens will face Kymis (#9) on the road in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Lavrio will play against Aiolos Trikallon (#11) and hope to win that game. In the last two games of round 2 winless Koroivos was crushed by Kymis in a road game 93-70. Promitheas beat Doxa Lefkadas at home 78-70. The best stats of 2nd round was 19 points and 7 rebounds by Slaven Cupkovic of Kymis.Kymis – Koroivos 93-70Kymis used a home court advantage and crushed the opponent from Koroivos 93-70 on Monday night. The game was mostly controlled by Kymis. Koroivos was better in second period 18-14. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They shot the lights out from three sinking 15 long-distance shots on high 51.7 percentage. Kymis looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. The best player for the winners was Serbian Slaven Cupkovic (205-88, agency: Octagon Europe) who scored 19 points and 7 rebounds. American forward Jordan Morgan (203-91, college: Michigan) chipped in 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Five Kymis players scored in double figures. Kymis’ coach Vassilis Bratsiakos felt very confident that he used entire bench saving starting five for next games. American point guard Ken Brown (180-89, college: Philander Smith, agency: Octagon Europe) produced 19 points and 6 assists and his fellow American import power forward Kenny Hall (206-90, college: Tennessee) added 16 points and 6 rebounds (on 7-of-8 shooting from the field) respectively for the guests. Kymis will …

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