GBL Round 3 (Regular Season): Iraklis defeat Karditsa

This is still too early stage of the Regular Season in GBL and we should expect many changes in upcoming rounds. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most surprising game was a loss of Karditsa (2-1) in Thessaloniki on Saturday night. Visitors were defeated by Iraklis (1-2) 71-53. It was a good game for American swingman Dontrez Styles (198-2002, college: NC State, agency: Slash Sports) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds. British-American Noah Horchler (204-1998, college: Providence) contributed with 8 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. Nigerian-American power forward Francis Okoro (204-1999, college: St.Louis) answered with 6 points and 11 rebounds for Karditsa. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Iraklis is looking forward to face Lefkadas (#12) on the road in the next round. Karditsa will play against Panathinaikos (#2) where they are definitely not considered as a favorite in this game either.
Another exciting game was a derby match between two teams from Athens: Panathinaikos (#3) and Peristeri (#4). Panathinaikos (3-0) crushed visiting Peristeri (2-1) by 20 points 95-75. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Peristeri. It was a great evening for the former international power forward Kostas Mitoglou (210-1996, college: Wake Forest) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kendrick Nunn helped adding 18 points and 6 assists. The best for the losing side was American forward Omar Payne (208-2000, college: UCF, agency: Inception Sports) with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Both coaches tested many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Panathinaikos will play against Karditsa (#5) at home in the next round. Peristeri's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Athens Maroussi.
The game in Rodou was also quite interesting. PAOK (3-0) played at the court of Kolossos (1-2). PAOK managed to secure a 4-point victory 88-84 on Saturday. It was an exceptional evening for Cedi Osman who led the winners and scored 37 points (!!!). Ezra Manjon came up with 16 points and 4 assists for Kolossos in the defeat. Both coaches allowed to play bench players in such tough game. PAOK will meet at home AEK (#7) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Kolossos will play against Vikos and hope to win that game.

There were no big surprises in other games of round 3: Mykonos was beaten by AEK on the road 84-79. Lefkadas lost to Promitheas on its own court 79-80. Maroussi unfortunately lost to Aris in Thessaloniki 57-74. Vikos lost to defending champion Olympiacos at home 68-79.



AEK - Mykonos 84-79:
AEK used a home court advantage and beat the opponent from Mykonos 84-79 on Saturday night. AEK looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. It was an exceptional evening for Nigerian center Nelly Joseph (208-2001, college: N.Mexico) who led the winners and scored 12 points and 9 rebounds. ex-international Giannoulis Larentzakis (196-1993, agency: Octagon Europe) accounted for 13 points and 5 assists for the winning side. American guard Jermaine Love (191-1989, college: UIS) came up with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and American-Lebanese forward DJ Funderburk (208-1997, college: NC State) added 17 points and 8 rebounds respectively for Mykonos in the defeat. Five AEK and four Mykonos players scored in double figures. Both coaches allowed to play bench players in such tough game. AEK will meet PAOK (#3) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Mykonos will play against Aris (#4) and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Mykonos: J.Love 25+5reb+5ast, D.Funderburk 17+8reb, T.Appleby 14+1reb+6ast, D.Skoulidas 12, V.Kavvadas 3+1reb, F.Tigkas 3
AEK: L.Giannoulis 13+1reb+5ast, K.Dimitrios 13+3reb+1ast, B.Greg 12+2reb, J.Nelly 12+9reb, N.Landers 11+2reb+3ast, W.Derrick 10+2reb

Kolossos - PAOK 84-88:
The game in Rodou was also quite interesting. PAOK (3-0) played at the court of Kolossos (1-2). PAOK managed to secure a 4-point victory 88-84 on Saturday. PAOK made 23-of-30 free shots (76.7 percent) during the game. PAOK outrebounded Kolossos 29-17 including 19 on the defensive glass. PAOK looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. It was an exceptional evening for North Macedonian-Turkish Cedi Osman (203-1995) who led the winners and scored 37 points (!!!). American Marcus Foster (191-1995, college: Creighton) accounted for 16 points and 8 assists for the winning side. American point guard Ezra Manjon (183-2000, college: Vanderbilt) came up with 16 points and 4 assists and the other American import guard Payton Willis (193-1998, college: Minnesota) added 14 points respectively for Kolossos in the defeat. Four Kolossos players scored in double figures. Both coaches allowed to play bench players in such tough game. PAOK will meet at home AEK (#7) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Kolossos will play against Vikos and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Kolossos: E.Manjon 16+1reb+4ast, P.Willis 14+2reb+2ast, C.Harris 14+1reb+1ast, J.Kreuser 11+2reb, Z.Karampelas 11+1reb+5ast, J.Barnett 8+6reb+1ast
PAOK: O.Cedi 37+3reb+1ast, F.Marcus 16+2reb+8ast, H.Trevor 11+2reb+6ast, M.Ben 8+5reb+2ast, M.Nazareth 7+1ast, G.RaiQuan 5+9reb+1ast

Iraklis - Karditsa 71-53:
The most surprising game was a loss of Karditsa (2-1) in Thessaloniki on Saturday night. Visitors were defeated by Iraklis (1-2) 71-53. It was a good game for American swingman Dontrez Styles (198-2002, college: NC State, agency: Slash Sports) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds. British-American Noah Horchler (204-1998, college: Providence) contributed with 8 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. Nigerian-American power forward Francis Okoro (204-1999, college: St.Louis) answered with 6 points and 11 rebounds and American guard Justin Turner (193-1998, college: BGSU) added 14 points in the effort for Karditsa. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Iraklis is looking forward to face Lefkadas (#12) on the road in the next round. Karditsa will play against Panathinaikos (#2) where they are definitely not considered as a favorite in this game either.
Top scorers:
Karditsa: J.Turner 14+3reb, J.McRae 10+1reb, K.Jackson 9+1reb+2ast, F.Okoro 6+11reb+2ast, C.Smith 5+4reb, N.Gkikas 5
Iraklis: S.Dontrez 24+10reb+2ast, D.Hassan 10+4reb+2ast, H.Noah 8+11reb, S.Cole 7+2reb+2ast, L.Jalen 7+1ast, M.Sarandis 6+2reb+4ast

Lefkadas - Promitheas 79-80:
But Lefkadas was not able to use a home court advantage and was edged by the opponent from Patras 80-79 on Saturday night. Promitheas looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. It was an exceptional evening for American guard New Williams (185-1996, college: Fresno St.) who led the winners and scored 22 points and 7 assists. Lithuanian forward Arnoldas Kulboka (208-1998) accounted for 18 points for the winning side. Four Promitheas players scored in double figures. American guard Trey Robinson (198-2002, college: NKU, agency: Elevate Sports Alliance) came up with 14 points and 9 rebounds and American-British center Josh Sharma (213-1995, college: Stanford) added 14 points and 7 rebounds respectively for Lefkadas in the defeat. Both coaches allowed to play bench players in such tough game. Promitheas will meet at home Olympiacos in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Lefkadas will play against Iraklis (#8) and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Lefkadas: J.Sharma 14+7reb+2ast, T.Robinson 14+9reb+2ast, D.Harmon 11+3reb+7ast, N.Arsenopoulos 9+2reb+2ast, D.Jones 9+3reb+1ast, I.Chatzinikolas 9+3reb+1ast
Promitheas: W.New 22+3reb+7ast, K.Arnoldas 18+4reb, C.Kendal 12+9reb, F.Jake 10+5reb, A.Adonis 8+1reb+4ast, K.Georgios 4+4reb

Aris - Maroussi 74-57:
Very predictable result when Aris (2-1) won against Maroussi (0-3) in Thessaloniki 74-57 on Saturday. It was an exceptional evening for American point guard Matt Morgan (188-1997, college: Cornell) who led the winners and scored 22 points. North Macedonian guard Nenad Dimitrijevic (190-1998) accounted for 14 points and 4 assists for the winning side. Angolan power forward Silvio de Sousa (206-1998, college: Chattanooga) came up with a double-double by scoring 12 points and 11 rebounds and American point guard Jordan Walker (180-1999, college: UAB) added 18 points respectively for Maroussi in the defeat. Both coaches allowed to play bench players saving starting five for next games. Aris will meet Mykonos (#10) on the road in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Maroussi's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Athens to the arena Peristeri.
Top scorers:
Maroussi: J.Walker 18+1reb+1ast, S.de Sousa 12+11reb+1ast, L.Kaselakis 7+5reb+3ast, Z.Jackson 5+1reb+1ast, A.Koniaris 5+1reb+1ast, M.Salash 4+4reb+2ast
Aris: M.Matt 22+1reb+1ast, D.Nenad 14+3reb+4ast, B.Khem 10+3reb, T.Vasileios 7+2reb+2ast, L.E.J. 6+7reb+2ast, R.Jeremiah 6+6reb+1ast

Vikos I. - Olympiacos 68-79:
Not a big story in a game when Vikos (0-3) lost to Olympiacos (3-0) in Ioannina 68-79 on Sunday. Olympiacos looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists. It was an exceptional evening for American-Bulgarian guard Codi Miller-McIntyre (191-1994, college: Wake Forest) who led the winners and scored 17 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. Bulgarian Aleksandar Vezenkov (204-1995) accounted for 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for the winning side. Four Olympiacos players scored in double figures. American guard Jordan Floyd (188-1997, college: King) came up with 18 points (went 10 for 10 at the free throw line !!!) and the other American import forward William McNair Jr (211-2000, college: Kansas St., agency: Octagon Europe) added 8 points and 9 rebounds respectively for Vikos in the defeat. Both coaches allowed to play bench players saving starting five for next games. Olympiacos will meet Promitheas (#11) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Vikos will play against Kolossos in Rodou and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Vikos I.: J.Floyd 18+1reb+1ast, K.Justice 12+1reb, W.McNair Jr. 8+9reb+2ast, A.Freeman 7+2reb+2ast, G.Karakostas 6+1reb+4ast, A.Patrikis 5+5reb+1ast
Olympiacos: M.Codi 17+4reb+8ast, V.Aleksandar 15+7reb+4ast, N.Mbaye 12+6reb, N.Omer 11+2reb+1ast, M.Nikola 10+6reb+1ast, W.Tyson 8+5reb+4ast

Panathinaikos - Peristeri 95-75:
Another exciting game was a derby match between two teams from Athens: Panathinaikos (#3) and Peristeri (#4). Panathinaikos (3-0) crushed visiting Peristeri (2-1) by 20 points 95-75. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Peristeri. Panathinaikos shot the lights out from three nailing 15 long-distance shots on high 51.7 percentage. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 23 assists. It was a great evening for the former international power forward Kostas Mitoglou (210-1996, college: Wake Forest) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds. American guard Kendrick Nunn (195-1995, college: Oakland) helped adding 18 points and 6 assists. Four Panathinaikos players scored in double figures. The best for the losing side was American forward Omar Payne (208-2000, college: UCF, agency: Inception Sports) with 8 points and 12 rebounds and ex-international center Emmanouil Chatzidakis (208-2000, agency: Octagon Europe) scored 13 points. Both coaches tested many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Panathinaikos will play against Karditsa (#5) at home in the next round. Peristeri's supporters look forward to another derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Athens Maroussi.
Top scorers:
Peristeri: E.Chatzidakis 13+3reb, N.Freidel 12+4reb, J.Ittounas 8+1ast, O.Payne 8+12reb+1ast, J.Petrakis 8+1reb+1ast, J.Finch 6+2reb+5ast
Panathinaikos: N.Kendrick 18+3reb+6ast, M.Kostas 16+11reb+3ast, F.Sylvain 15+2ast, H.Nigel 11+4reb+3ast, H.Juancho 9+11reb, M.Lefteris 7+2reb