PAOK and Aris to face off for a Euroleague spot
PAOK regained the home advantage in the battle for third spot over local rival Aris, hoping to land Greece’s third ticket to next season’s Euroleague.
Playing at Aris?s home court, the Alexandrio Sports Hall, on June 5, PAOK triumphed 91-80 to level the best-of-five series at 2-2, despite falling behind by as many as 12 points during the game.
The comeback by coach Soulis Markopoulos?s players silenced the home crowd and took the series to a fifth match that will take place on June 8 at the PAOK Sports Arena in Pylaia.
Todor Gecevski scored 20 points for the Black-and-Whites, while Dionte Christmas added another 18.
Costas Charalambidis?s 28 points were not enough for Aris on the night; even he went quiet in the last few minutes of the match.
Already from June 6, the first day the tickets for Game 5 hit the market, more than 1,000 were sold as Thessaloniki is eagerly anticipating this match.
The winner of the series will enter the qualifying rounds of the Euroleague, while European champion Panathinaikos and Greek runner-up Olympiakos are going directly to the group stage.
