Fortson, Vidmar shine as Banvit beats Aris

Courtney Fortson recorded the eighth triple-double in Eurocup history and Gasper Vidmar starred with an impressive double-double to lead Banvit Bandirma to a crucial 96-84 win over Aris Thessaloniki on Wednesday in Group D. The victory bumped Banvit’s record to 2-3, while Aris dropped to 3-2. A 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter gave a double-digit margin to the home team, 75-65, and they never looked back despite the visitors fighting till the end. Dominique Johnson scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for Banvit, while Vidmar amassed 24 points and 12 rebounds – 7 of them offensive and Fortson tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. A.J. Slaughter added 14 points and Keith Simmons had 11 in victory. Dominic Waters recorded 20 with 9 assists for Aris, Jerel McNeal scored 16, Jake Cohen 14 and Jamelle Hagins 10.

Aris got off to a strong start to claim a 5-15 advantage after McNeal scored 8 consecutive points. Fortson fueled the home team and joined by Vidmar cut the difference to 13-17, before Cohen and AJ Slaughter exchanged jumpers to make it 15-20 after 10 minutes. Okaro White made it 15-23 from downtown to open the second quarter. Banvit made a big effort to come back with a 15-3 run that featured back-to-back triples by Slaughter and Fortson to lead 30-26. McNeal kept the visitors in charge with great accuracy from the three-point line, 34-31. In the last minute, Adrien Moerman from beyond the arc and Cohen in the paint fixed the score at 39-33 for Banvit at halftime.

Johnson nailed a three and Vidmar completed a three-point-play to make it 51-44, but Waters pushed the visitors with 5 points in a row. Michalis Pelekanos and Cohen completed the job with a 13-4 run to take a 55-57 edge. Banvit exploded with 8 unanswered points in response. Hagins and Vassilis Xanthopulos cut the difference to 65-63 in the final seconds of the quarter. Johnson from downtown made it a double digit margin game, 75-65, but Waters and Cohen answered from long distance to close within 75-71. Johnson remained on fire and supported by Simmons gave the hosts a comfortable 86-73 lead with two and a half minutes to play in the game. Hagins and Waters tried a late come back for Aris, but Simmons from mid-range and Vidmar’s put-back sealed the home team’s victory.