Greek A1: Top teams grab blowout wins

The co-leaders of the Greek A1 league took to the hardwood floor on March 5 and both Olympiacos S.F. P. Pireus and Panathinaikos Athens claimed blowout wins at home. Both clubs are at an impressive 19-1. AEK Athens is in third place in the standings but at a distant 16-4. Right now, things are shaping up to be a clash between two Greece’s top teams in the Finals. Once they get there, however, all bets are off and it could swing either way.

Olympiacos vs. Lavrio, 84-52

This was an easy win for the Greek powerhouse. They led in this game from start to finish and made short work of the 10th-ranked GS Lavrio squad. Olympiacos dominated them from the outside, making nine treys compared to Lavrio’s four; and also were unstoppable on the glass with 46 total rebounds for the game versus 27 boards by their guests.

The red-and-white shirts were led by Evangelos Mantzaris, who accounted for four of the team’s nine shots from beyond the three-point arc. He ended the game with 12 points and four assists.  Ioannis Papapetrou and Matt Lojeski added 10 points apiece.

The duo of Sean Evans and Zamal Nixon paced Lavrio with 12 points each.

Panathinaikos Athens vs. Aris Thessaloniki, 70-54

While Olympiacos had a proverbial cakewalk against one the league’s bottom teams, Panathinaikos had to take on one a Top 4 team. This game was won by Panathinaikos at the free-throw line. Aris kept on sending them to the charity stripe and Panathinaikos made them pay for it by connecting on 22-of-32 shots.

Ioannis Bourousis had an off-night and was limited to three points and seven rebounds. Aris was not able to completely capitalize on this, as Mike James stepped up and picked up the slack with a game-high 19 points. He shot 6-of-14 from the field and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. Chris Singleton was a point shy of recording a double-double with nine points and 12 boards.

Vladimir Jankovic was the top performer for Aris with 13 points and seven rebounds.