While Aris shot well from downtown, Lietkabelis was historically bad
Three-pointers led Aris to first win
Stats
3 Mins read
Aris Midea Thessaloniki visited 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys at Kalnapilio Arena in a game in which both teams were looking for their first win in the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup. Aris prevailed 74-92, and three-point shooting had to do a lot with it.
Aris ended up burying 11-of-21 three-pointers (52.4%) to get a no-doubt-about it win. The team had struggled from beyond the three-point line until now, hitting just 16 of 46 attempts (34.8% 3FG) in the previous two rounds. Aris had relatively poor numbers when it came to turnovers (18) and offensive rebounds (4) but its three-point accuracy made the difference in the game.
Vassilis Toliopoulos buried 6-of-8 shots from beyond the arc, finishing the game with a career-high 26 points. He was one three-point shot away from tying Aris's club record in the competition. Dimitrios Tsaldaris made 7 three-pointers for Aris in an 89-86 loss against Bnei Hasharon on January 13, 2008.
"First of all, I am very happy that I helped my team win. It was our first win of the year and was really important for us. It doesn't matter if it is me or another player, the most important is the team's win," Toliopoulos said after the game. "I think that was a great performance from our team. We are getting better on offense. We try to get better every day. We have a new team and I think we are going to be very good."
On the other hand, Lietkabelis was completely off-target from three-point territory, missing all of its 15 attempts. Only two teams in EuroCup history missed more three-pointers in a game without making one, Valencia Basket (25 vs. Le Mans Sarthe Basket, January 12, 2010) and Rytas Vilnius (16, vs. Limoges CSP, December 26, 2017). GasTerra Flames also missed all of its 15 three-point shots against Panellinios Athens on November 23, 2010.
"I am very happy for this win, especially for our players, because since the beginning of the season we had a very tough pre-season period, and our first official games were against very, very competitive opponents, so we had some bad results for us," Aris head coach Ioannis Kastritis added. "As you know, winning is very important regarding our psychology and our confidence in the beginning of the season, so I am very happy for our guys, for the effort they showed tonight at both ends."
Aris hopes to keep its momentum going in its upcoming two home games, as it hosts Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem in Round 4 and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Round 5.
Game Leaders
MANTASRUBSTAVICIUS
MANTASRUBSTAVICIUS
17
Performance Index Rating(PIR)
VASSILISTOLIOPOULOS
VASSILISTOLIOPOULOS
26
