19 September, 2017
06 May, 2018
25 Kyle Weaver (GRE)
11/10/2017
Game Report
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Aris use big first half to stave off Stelmet Zielona Gora

THESSALONIKI (Basketball Champions League) - Aris got off to a winning start in the Basketball Champions League with a 70-64 win over Stelmet Zielona Gora on Wednesday evening.

After having a commanding 37-23 halftime lead, the home side had to work a lot harder than expected heading into the final quarter, holding off a furious rally from the Polish side.

With Aris having led by as many as 18, three straight three-pointers from Zielona Gora, two from Armani Moore and one from Thomas Kelati saw them pull within six, 64-58 with three minutes to play, as they were very much in the contest.

However, Aris had a response every time; a three-pointer from Vasilopoulos with 1:42 remaining proved to be the dagger, extending their lead to nine and being enough to stave off any last hopes of a comeback.


Kyle Weaver had 14 of his game-high 16 points in the first half for Aris, with Panagiotis Vasilopoulos and Giannis Athinaiou adding 13 each.

"It was a good win for us tonight, especially coming off of our last game," Weaver said. "I think we played a lot better, it was a good confidence builder for us and I think it was one of our best games where we got off to a good start as well. 

"We're starting to come together a little bit more and I think we showed that tonight. Second half; having a good lead is hard sometimes to keep the lead.

"Zielona Gora made a good run, made some big plays and we made some mistakes, but I think we stayed strong and stayed together towards the end and we pulled out the win."

Thomas Kelati led five players into double figures for Stelmet Zielona with 15 points, including some big shots in the fourth as he spearheaded the visitors comeback. 

"Congratulations to Aris," Stelmet Zielona Gora Head Coach Artur Gronek commented.

"They started the game pretty good as they should in a home gym, they received a lot of support from the fans. They deserved the win. It's difficult to play away, when we are making 21 turnovers and then we have to come back from down 15, 14.

"We scored just 23 points in the first half and this is the main reason we couldn't catch them in the end, this advantage was too big."