PAOK Thessaloniki vs. Ventspils - ShowGame - ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament

2014-15Regular SeasonRound 9

December 10, 2014 CET: 18:00

Local time: 19:00 PAOK SPORTS ARENA

PAOK pulls away from Ventspils to clinch Last 32 spot

PAOK Thessaloniki dominated the fourth quarter to beat Ventspils 76-62 and clinch a spot in the Last 32. PAOK improved to 5-4 in Group F and can finish no lower than fourth in the group. Ventspils dropped to 2-7 and saw its slim chances to advance come to an end. PAOK led for much of the game, but Ventspils always kept it close. Ventspils led by 2 in the third quarter and entered the fourth down 2, but PAOK scored 27 points in the final stanza to run away with the victory. Kevin Langford led the PAOK attack with 15 points, Marc Carter scored 13 and Apollon Tsochlas and Kostas Kakaroudis netted 10 apiece for the winners. Davis Lejasmeiers paced Ventspils with 17 points and Mire Chatman and Akselis Vairogs finished with 10 points each.

The game was tight throughout the first quarter, with neither team leading by more than 2 points until a Langford layup made it 14-10. Artis Ate narrowed the gap to 14-12 after 10 minutes. Langford scored the first 5 points of the second quarter before Lejasmeiers nailed a pair of threes for Ventspils to get within 21-18. Martins Meiers knotted the game with a basket plus foul. PAOK regained the lead on threes from Michail Liapis and Langford and Kakaroudis scored on three consecutive possessions to boost the difference to 34-26. Chatman hit a three and added a pair of free throws to get within 34-31 at the break.

Carter put PAOK up 7 early in the second half, but Ventspils quickly closed to within 2 again. The visitors stayed close behind until a Vairogs three made it 43-45. Back-to-back triples from the hands of Carter and Kakaroudis gave the hosts control again. Vairogs brought Ventspils within 49-47 through three quarters. Tsochlas used a basket-plus-foul and a three-pointer to give PAOK an 8-point edge. Maris Gulbis scored twice and Chatman netted a three to get within 60-55. A Carter three gave PAOK a double-digit lead and Evangelos Margaritis put the hosts up 67-55 with three minutes to go. Six straight points from Ventspils gave the visitors hope, but 4 free throws from Jake Odum helped seal the outcome and secure PAOK a place in the Last 32.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Eurocupbasketball.com

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Referees: TAURINO, PAOLO; JASEVICIUS, TOMAS; MAJKIC, MARIO

Attendance: 780 (Tentative)

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
PAOK Thessaloniki	14	20	15	27
Ventspils	12	19	16	15

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
PAOK Thessaloniki	14	34	49	76
Ventspils	12	31	47	62

PAOK Thessaloniki

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	LANGFORD, KEVIN	21:18	15	2/5	3/4	2/2		2	2		1	1	1		3	2	13
5	LIAPIS, MICHAIL	8:24	3		1/1		1		1	2						1	7
7	CARTER, MARC	30:04	13	2/5	3/5		1	3	4	2	3	1			2	5	19
8	KAKAROUDIS, KOSTAS	14:59	10	2/4	1/1	3/4	1	2	3	2	1				3	4	14
9	TSOCHLAS, APOLLON	22:15	10	3/5	1/1	1/1		3	3	4		1		1	3	1	11
10	DEDAS, GEORGIOS	5:21			0/1					1
11	MARGARITIS, VANGELIS	19:54	8	3/5	0/1	2/2	1	3	4		3	1			2	2	11
12	KOTTAS, THOMAS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	ODUM, JAKE	29:56	9	1/6	1/4	4/4		2	2	4	1			1	3	3	7
15	VAUGHN, JULIAN	22:55	6	3/4			4	3	7			2	1	1	1	1	10
16	BREMER, JR	17:07	2	1/1	0/4			1	1	2	1	3					-1
19	SALOUSTROS, CHRISTOS	7:47		0/2				1	1						2		-3
	Team							2	2								2
	Totals	200:00	76	17/37	10/22	12/13	8	22	30	17	10	9	2	3	19	19	90
				45.9%	45.5%	92.3%

Head coach: MARKOPOULOS, SOULIS

Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating

Ventspils

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
7	BARNIES, TROY	19:42	4	2/4	0/2			2	2	1		3			2	1	-1
8	LEJASMEIERS, DAVIS	32:46	17	4/7	3/3			2	2	3		2			2	2	17
12	KANBERGS, KRISTAPS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	VAIROGS, AKSELIS	27:33	10	2/4	2/5			3	3	3	2	1			3	1	10
15	ATE, ARTIS	8:31	3	1/3		1/2				1					1	1	1
21	BUTJANKOVS, ARTJOMS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
22	GULBIS, MARIS	24:15	7	2/3	0/3	3/3		3	3	1		1		1	3	5	7
24	GRAZULIS, ANDREJS	18:06	2	1/3	0/1		2	2	4	1		1			4		-1
31	PEINERS, ZANIS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
32	CHATMAN, MIRE	30:44	10	1/6	2/4	2/2		3	3	4		4		1	1	3	7
33	MEIERS, MARTINS	22:12	7	2/4		3/5	2	4	6			1	2		2	5	13
45	GRANT, JERAI	16:11	2	1/1			2	4	6			3	1		1	1	6
	Team						1	1	2								2
	Totals	200:00	62	16/35	7/18	9/12	7	24	31	14	2	16	3	2	19	19	61
				45.7%	38.9%	75%

Head coach: STELMAHERS, ROBERTS

Head Coaches

MARKOPOULOS, SOULIS

PAOK Thessaloniki

“It was a great victory, a very important success, because we had to cope within a group of very hard teams, with Lokomotiv Kuban amongst them, a team that could be playing at a very high level in the Euroleague. I would like to congratulate my players for their effort during the Regular Season of the competition. We have one more game to play in our group, but we are only focusing on our next Greek League game and we are not even thinking about what happens in the next round of the competition. We are very happy though to be continuing in the Eurocup, it’s something we had really wanted from the beginning of the season.”

STELMAHERS, ROBERTS

Ventspils

“It was a very hard game, because it was our last chance to qualify. We knew from the beginning that it was very hard to advance after our loss in Greece and against PAOK, but we all thought it could be done. We fought the whole game, but in the fourth quarter we had to try something to turn the situation in our favor, so we tried a zone press, but then we made some stupid turnovers and that’s where the game ended for us. I know it’s not wise to try a zone press against Greeks, they know the cuts, they read the game well, but we had to try something. And PAOK has experienced foreigners and very good Greek players so it was hard for us to make it work. But I think the 14-point difference does not reflect how we played."

Players

KAKAROUDIS, KOSTAS

PAOK Thessaloniki

“It was a very hard game, like any other. But it was a game that everything was on the line for us. We tried very hard and got a very important victory at the end. We became more aggressive with our defense in the fourth quarter and we were more focused. We are a team that finds strength through its defense. Kostas Charalampidis’s absence is huge for us. We try to live with it. He’s a player that makes a huge contribution not only on the floor, but off it as well. Kostas is an icon, a huge person and athlete. I hope he’s with us as soon as possible. We haven’t really thought about the Last 32, but it’s going to be harder for sure. But we choose to focus on one game at a time, to take any victory we can and go on from there."

GRAZULIS, ANDREJS

Ventspils

“We tried hard for almost 40 minutes, in a very tough game, but we made some mistakes that cost us at around the middle of the fourth quarter and then we just couldn’t come back. I believe we could have gotten something better from the competition, we could have beaten PAOK in Ventspils and even Lokomotiv and a couple more wins could have made the difference for us."

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