After a thrilling Game 3 that looked more like a survival marathon than a basketball game, AEK defeated Aris at SUNEL Arena 102-99 and punched their ticket to the Stoiximan GBL semifinals, where they will face Olympiakos.
The match lasted over two and a half hours, as it had continuous interruptions and 70 completed shots! The Union even got to +10, but Aris refused to give up, coming back again and again through the offensive rebounds and big shots of Noah (21 points, 9 rebounds), Mitrou-Long (23 points) and Bryce Jones (14 points, 9 assists).
The Thessalonians completely dominated the rebounding, finishing the game with 42 (20 offensive) to Union’s 24. Nevertheless, the most important rebound of the match was taken by Gray, when after Charalambopoulos’ missed shot, he gave his team a second possession and essentially “sealed” the victory and the qualification of Sakota’s team.
Leading for the winners were Bartley with 16 points, Brown with 14, Nanali Lekavicius with 12 each, while Gray had 14 points, 3 steals and just 1 rebound, this in the final. Concern for Kisson Fizell, who is out injured and will undergo tests on his right knee.
The quarters: 32-25, 52-46, 76-68, 102-99.