By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
A tight affair in Thessaloniki with PAOK mateco improving to 2-1 in Group G of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season.
After mishandling an 11-point lead, the win, 79-77, versus Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem punched in a favorable share of first place in the four-team group on Wednesday.
Returning to the Champions League, Kendall Smith recorded a team-high 16 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 46 seconds left in the Gameday 3 contest. Making all three from the charity stripe broke a tie at 75-75. His side narrowly held on as Speedy Smith missed a potential game-winning three-pointer in the dying seconds of the nail-biter.
Dealing with foul trouble through the second half, Michael Gilmore chipped in ten points, highlighting an efficiency rating of 19. On the injury list, Jamuni McNeace and Nikos Arsenopoulos were unavailable for head coach Fotis Takianos.
On the opposite end, Levi Randolph tallied a game-high 19 points in PAOK Sports Arena, sharing the game-high efficiency rating with Gilmore with his side falling to 2-1. Noam Dovrat remained sidelined for the team coached by Aleksandar Dzikic.
Focusing inside the paint down the stretch, the hosts navigated most of the 40 minutes nearing 60% from beyond the arc. Ending up with 10/22, 45.4%, was fueled by eight players making at least one triple.
Switching back to domestic action, PAOK will host archrival Aris Midea, looking to jump to 4-3 in Greece’s Stoiximan Basket League on Saturday.
Postgame press conference
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League