Aris overcomes Ilisiakos away in overtime
Panathinaikos and Olympiakos strolled to easy wins on Saturday for the fourth round of games in the basketball league, but Aris had to dig deep to defeat bottom side Ilisiakos in Athens. Aris won 87-82 in overtime (73-73 at the end of regulation time) to claim its third win in four games, but had to overcome a stubborn home side that probably deserved more than what it got in the end. The Zografou side, which had been leading 41-35 at halftime, received complaints from the referees. Panionios had to wait until the fourth round to grab a victory, but did so in style as it beat Panellinios 67-59 at Lamia. This performance along with its previous one, a narrow home loss to Olympiakos, showed that the team is improving under new coach Giorgos Bartzokas. Panathinaikos was troubled only in the first period at Kolossos as the Rhodes club ended the first 10 minutes ahead 23-17. Yet when the Greens stepped up their game the host was unable to respond and succumbed to an 83-53 loss. Olympiakos played its second home match behind closed doors but had no problems with newly promoted Ikaros Kallitheas, winning 86-64. AEK was no match for PAOK in Thessaloniki. The host triumphed 92-70. Kavala continued its string of impressive performances, dismissing visiting Maroussi 79-58 for its third win and sitting pretty in third spot on the A1 table. Milt Palacio scored 24 points and had six assists for the winners. Peristeri hosts Iraklis at 6 p.m. today.
