Greece playmaker Vassilis ‘Kill Bill’ Spanoulis’ late three-pointer and a controversial refereeing decision allowed Olympiakos to emerge unscathed from their clash at Aris’ home court last weekend and stay joint top of the table along with Panionios.
Olympiakos beat Aris 71-70 thanks to a last-ditch Spanoulis effort five seconds from time, when the score was at 70-68 in the hosts’ favour. Aris have filed an official complaint for the match officials’ decision not to award the Thessaloniki club two points when Dominic James saw his buzzer-beating shot stopped right on the basket by Michalis Pelekanos and Kyle Hines. The hosts argued that the shot should have counted, but the referees consulted the video replay and decided against it.
Elsewhere, Panionios beat Ikaros Kallitheas 78-64 to improve their record to 6-1 so far this season. Champions Panathinaikos strolled to an 84-58 victory over Ilisiakos on December 3 to share the same record (five wins and one loss) with Kolossos, who thrashed Kavala 83-55 on Rhodes on December 4. Peristeri returned to winning ways with a 73-63 win over PAOK, while Maroussi failed once again to get their first win, going down 79-64 at AGO Rethymnou.
Source: Athens News
