Despite a spirited fightback from the hosts, Jordan Parks stepped up late to carry the visitors home
Reyer downs Aris, 74-81, to notch third straight win
Umana Reyer Venice is starting to build some momentum in the BKT EuroCup after reeling off its third straight victory on Wednesday night, beating Aris Midea Thessaloniki 74-81 in Greece to improve to a 5-5 record. Aris, which trailed by as many as 20 points, took the lead for the first time with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Jordan Parks scored 8 points the rest of the way as Reyer secured the win.
Tyler Ennis netted a team-high 19 points for Reyer, while Mfiondu Kabengele had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Reyer duo Parks and Aamir Simms both scored 12 points, too. Aris center Darral Willis, in just his second game for the club, scored a game-high 25 points, with Sharife Cooper – also making his second Aris appearance – pouring in 19 points. Landers Nolley had 17 points, too.
Game Videos
With Aris missing star player Vassilis Toliopoulos for the next few weeks due to injury, Reyer capitalized on his absence by racing out to a 4-14 lead on the back of Ennis, Kabengele and Parks. Kabengele continued to do damage inside, finishing back-to-back alley-oop plays to set a 7-18 score. Despite a Nolley-inspired resurgence by Aris, Reyer led 18-30 at the end of the first quarter.
Reyer continued to make life difficult for Aris early in the second frame, as Simms had back-to-back layups and Alessandro Lever scored on consecutive plays to swell the lead to 19-38. Simms then appeared again to knock down a three and set a new game-high 20-point lead, 21-41, which Davide Casarin matched with a reverse layup to make it 23-43. Nolley scored 4 straight points, including a jaw-dropping poster dunk on three Reyer players, to bring some life back into the arena. Then it was the turn of Cooper to step up, with the 23-year-old scoring Aris’s last 10 points of the half to make it 40-47.
After the break, it suddenly became a much tighter affair. Ennis put Reyer on his back at times as Willis and Nolley did their best to bring the hosts back into it, but a layup by Ennis and a couple of free throws made it a 12-point ball game, 50-62, with 2:13 minutes left. Aris had a strong end to the quarter, however, scoring 8 straight points – 4 by Nolley and 4 by Emmanouil Chatzidakis – to set a 58-62 score.
Willis went into superstar mode for Aris early in the fourth, scoring his team’s first 12 points of the quarter to give the Greek side its first lead of the night at 70-69. However, Parks replied with 4 straight points to give Reyer the lead once more at 70-73, and his put-back layup kept Reyer in control at 72-75. It was then the turn of Ennis and Kabengele to make it 72-79, as Reyer ended up seeing a 74-81 win over the line.