PAOK mateco lost against Olympiacos with 83-65 at Piraeus, Athens which allowed them to take the lead (1-0) in the series for the semifinals of PLAYOFFS in Basket League. The next game will take place in PAOK Sports Arena, in 25/5 after the fulfillment of Olympiacos obligations in Final Four of Euroleague.

In the first half, our team was the leader and found solutions with some nailing shots from beyond the arc. However, in the second half the hosts created a pressure and our team couldn’t handle that rhythm.

PAOK mateco started off the game with a 5-11 (3’) and 9-14 (4’30’’) lead and despite the fact that Olympiacos found a solution to be on top, Hands made one of his long-range shots and returned the lead to our team (17-19).

The three-pointer Hands was the character which provided a 5-point lead (17-22) and by that, PAOK mateco didn’t lose the control of the game until the end of the first half. Meanwhile, six players of our team completed a three-point play to give a 3-point difference (42-45) in the first half of the game.

Sibert took his tally to 13 points and helped PAOK mateco to maintain the lead (46-50) and the control, through the half of the third quarter but our team succeeded only two points until the end of the quarter. Olympiacos made a 23-7 run and went ahead in the score with a double-digit difference (63-52 30’).

Our team’s lead was short-lived, as Olympiacos was dominant in the game and the difference reached 20 points in the half of the fourth quarter. So just like that, the series went to 1-0.

Quarters: 17-19, 42-45, 63-52, 83-65

OLYMPIACOS: Walkup 7 (1), Lountzis 10, Larentzakis 16 (2), Pappas, Fall 4, Vezenkov 21 (1), Papanikolaou 4, Bolomboy 2, Peters 13 (2), McKissic 6 (1).

PAOK mateco: Franke 7 (1), Riley 12 (3), Tsiakmas 3 (1), Hands 9 (3), Margaritis 5 (1), Polley 7 (1), Slaftsakis, Sibert 15 (3), Kaklamanakis 4, Kamperidis, Saloustros 2, Renfro 1.