By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
For a second straight year, Aris Thessaloniki began the Greek League championship by defeating Panathinaikos Athens. This time, the team from northern Greece took down the Greens 69 – 65 amid massive celebrations by fans in the Nick Galis Hall in the first match of the 2022-23 season.
Chevez Goodwin scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Aris while JD Notae had 13 points and Josh Hagins dropped 11 points. The latter also made the layup that put Aris up 68 – 65 with 29 seconds to play.
On the other end, Lefteris Bochorides committed a traveling violation and then Notae secured the win for Aris with a free throw. Panathinaikos suffered its third straight loss over four official games of the new season so far.
Derick Williams had 13 points (4-10 free throws) while George Papagiannis (10 points, six rebounds), Marius Grigonis (10 points) and Paris Lee (10 points, seven assists) also scored in double figures for Panathinaikos. After scoring 20 points in the first 22 minutes, their team erased a 15-point deficit and went up 42 – 43 at the end of the third period.
Panathinaikos went up 51 – 55 with 6:46 to play but Aris made an 8 – 2 run with points by Goodwin, Notae and Hagins. The Thessaloniki side took advantage of its opponents’ mistakes down the stretch to keep a lead and finish with a superb victory.