Aris beats Olympiacos 100-78 in the GBL and ends its unbeaten run

Aris pulls away after the break

Aris beat Olympiacos 100-78 on Sunday, 15 November, in the seventh round of the Stoiximan GBL. The game was played in a packed hall in Thessaloniki, which one report calls the Nick Galis Hall and others the Alexandreio. The sides were level at 23-23 after the first quarter, with the hosts having made five of ten three-pointers, but Aris came out stronger after the break and turned the contest in its favour. Matthew Morgan top-scored for the hosts with 21 points, while Nenad Dimitrijević added 19 points and six assists. Kevin Birch scored 14 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had nine points and nine rebounds.

Evan Fournier (Olympiacos)29

Matthew Morgan (Aris)21

Nenad Dimitrijević (Aris)19

Sasha Vezenkov (Olympiacos)19

Kevin Birch (Aris)14

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Aris)9

Evan Fournier (Olympiacos)

29 points

Matthew Morgan (Aris)

21 points

Nenad Dimitrijević (Aris)

19 points

Sasha Vezenkov (Olympiacos)

19 points

Kevin Birch (Aris)

14 points

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Aris)

9 points

Data from the article text

Early exchanges

Aris opened strongly, with three early three-pointers producing a 9-0 lead by the second minute. Olympiacos answered with a 6-0 run that cut the gap to 9-6 in the fourth minute. Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier together scored 14 points in the spell that levelled the game at 16-16 by the eighth minute. Fournier had 13 points by the end of the first quarter, shooting with high accuracy. Morgan then scored five straight points to keep Aris close, and the first period ended 23-23. The sequence below lists the key moments of the match in order.

Bartzokas ejected in the final minutes

Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas was sent off during the fourth quarter. He received his first technical foul in the 15th minute after protesting to the referees, and a second technical foul in the closing minutes ended his time on the bench. Reports put the ejection between 5:45 and 5:49 before the final buzzer, depending on the source. He did not see the finish from the bench. His assistant Christos Pappas took over and led Olympiacos through the last minutes, by which point the result was already settled.

Olympiacos reaction and the table

Pappas faced the press after the defeat and praised the home side. He said:

“Congratulations to Aris, they played very well today, with a lot of energy.”

He admitted that his team had been too hasty in the third quarter, and that this carried over into its defence. Pappas said Olympiacos had 13 assists and 18 turnovers and gave up 22 points, with only six offensive rebounds. He also said the team relied too heavily on Fournier and failed to create other scoring options. Asked about the defeat, he was blunt:

“Aris clearly was better than us. They won fairly, and they have a very strong home court.”

Aris moved to 6-1, second in the table behind PAOK, which is unbeaten at 7-0. Panathinaikos and Olympiacos also stand at 6-1, but each carries a two-point penalty from last season. The defeat ended Olympiacos's 11-year unbeaten run at this venue and a streak of more than six years against Greek league opponents other than Panathinaikos.

PAOK7

Aris6

Panathinaikos6

Olympiacos6

PAOK

7

Aris

6

Panathinaikos

6

Olympiacos

6

Data from the article text

Supporter incident and next fixtures

Late in the game, an Aris supporter approached the Olympiacos bench, prompting a reaction from the visiting side. Referees stopped play for a few seconds, and the game continued without the incident escalating. In the next round, PAOK hosts Aris in the Thessaloniki derby on 21 November at 17:30, a meeting that also decides the top of the table. Olympiacos travels to Karditsa on 22 November at 15:00.