Szolnoki Olaj storms back from 19-point deficit to beat PAOK

Szolnoki Olaj picked up its second win of the season after coming back from 19 down to beat PAOK Thessaloniki 76-69 on Wednesday in Group E. Both teams have now 2-4 records, but Szolonki claimed the potential tiebreak advantage between them. A 6-25 run bridging halftime gave a 26-45 advantage to PAOK at the midway point of the third quarter, but Szolnoki did not give up and with a furious comeback in the last quarter took a 65-64 lead and never looked back, scoring 37 points in the last 10 minutes. David Vojvoda led the way for the winners by scoring 13 of his 15 points in the last quarter, Strahinja Milosevic added 13, Krisztian Wittmann 12 and Peter Kovacs posted 10 with 7 rebounds. Kostas Vasileiadis had 11 points for PAOK, while Apollon Tsochlas and William Hatcher bagged 10 each in defeat.

Wittmann scored twice from long distance to take a 17-9 advantage for Szolnoki late in the first quarter. Uros Duvnjak fixed the score at 17-11 at the first break. Michalis Liapis put PAOK in front 17-18. The lead changed hands four times, but when Tsochlas hit from three-point range for a 22-24 PAOK lead, he also started a 2-12 run to complete the quarter and establish a 24-36 halftime lead.

Vasileaidis capped a 2-18 run to lead 24-40 and then raised the cushion to 26-45. Dino Gregory tried to keep his side alive with a three-point-play to close within 36-49, but Sofoklis Schortsanitis in the paint and Nikola Markovic from downtown gave a 41-55 margin to PAOK through three quarters. Georgios Dedas opened the last quarter by giving a 41-58 cushion to PAOK, but the home team made a big effort to climb within 56-60 when Milos Borisov nailed a three and Wittmann scored a jumper. Borisov from the foul line put Szonlonki ahead 65-64. A triple by Vojvoda made it 69-65 and sealed the incredible comeback by the home team.