Waters turns from zero to hero for Kolossos Rhodes
For 40 minutes he was a real disappointment for his coach, Aris Lykoyiannis. His shooting rate was a miserable 1 in 10 two-point shots and he had made no three-pointers. On top of that he committed a turnover three seconds from the end to give the ball away to visiting Apollon Patras that was leading by two. And yet somehow Dominic Waters turned from zero to hero for Kolossos Rhodes right at the end.
Kolossos Rhodes beat Apollon Patras for the first time in its history at the eighth time of asking through an unlikely twist at the end. The hosts threw away a 57-50 lead a few minutes from time as cup finalist Apollon scored a partial 12-2 score to advance 62-59.
Waters stepped outside of court with the ball in his hands and the score at 63-61 in Apollon’s favor, but the Patra club missed both free throws it had earned. Waters picked the ball with two-and-a-half seconds left and tried a shot just after the halfway line.
His shot went nowhere near the target, but the referees ruled he was fouled in the process. That meant three free throws with no time left on the clock. Waters held his nerve and agonizingly made all three of them to the eventual excitement of the home crowd. Kolossos won 64-63 and a collected Waters said after the game: “That was easy for me, I’ve got a 90 percent rate in free throws.”
In other games Olympiakos stayed on top through an entertaining 105-87 win at Trikala behind closed doors on Monday, matching AEK’s scoring as the Athens club had beaten visiting Panelefsiniakos 105-80 on Sunday.
Panathinaikos also scored an away win, beating AGO Rethymnou 94-77, to stay within one point from the top. PAOK, in third, defeated bottom side Panionios 79-65 and remains one point ahead of Aris that downed Nea Kifissia away by the same score.
KAO Dramas took a leap toward safety with its 78-62 home victory over Korivos Amaliadas.
