05 October, 2021
15 May, 2022
14/12/2021
Game Report
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AEK eliminated, Falco Szombathely move to first in Group D

ATHENS (Greece) - On the night AEK honored the late Stevan Jelovac by retiring his No. 13 jersey in the rafters, they were eliminated from contention in the Basketball Champions League with an 83-89 loss to Falco Szombathely.

It was emotional pregame, as teammates, coaches and fans alike paid their respects to Jelovac one last time.

AEK has now lost both games against the same team in the BCL regular season for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

This is also the first time that Szombathely have won multiple road games in a single BCL season.

Szombathely's Zoltan Perl (18 points) was able to extend his streak of games with 10+ points scored to 13 which is now the longest active streak of games among all players currently in the league.

Turning point: AEK grabbed four offensive rebounds on one possession in the fourth quarter and they finally converted a layup to cut their deficit to two points.

They even got to within one point shortly after and had opportunities to take the lead, but they never did.

A three-pointer by Szombathely's Benedek Varadi gave them an 84-77 lead with 54 seconds left, sealing the victory.

Game heroes: Szombathely had two players record double-doubles.

Varadi finished the game with 20 points, 12 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks, while shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point.

Benedek Varadi

Akos Keller finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 5-of-7 from the field.

His 15 rebounds were the most by a player in a game this season and he is also the first player to grab 15+ rebounds in fewer than 21 minutes of action in a single BCL game ever.

To cap things off, Keller threw down this alley-oop:

 

Stats don't lie: Szombathely were able to get out in transition and score 23 fast break points, while AEK only scored 11.

AEK struggled from the three-point line tonight, shooting 6-of-27, while Szombathely knocked down 9-of-23.

Szombathely almost doubled AEK in points from the bench (37-19), as Perl and Boris Barac (15 points) combined for 33 of those points.

Bottom line: AEK's Eric Griffin (24 points) and Braian Angola (22 points) combined for 46 of the team's points and five of the team's six total threes.

AEK are now 1-4 and will finish in fourth place in Group D.

The Greek club will travel to face Nutribullet Treviso in their last group play game on December 22.

Szombathely are now 4-1 and currently sit in first place in the group.

The Hungarian club will host VEF Riga in their last group play game on December 22 in an attempt to win the group and secure their spot in the Round of 16.

 
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