Aris BSA 2003 remained alive to take top honors in Group C of the Eurocup with a convincing 79-58 victory at home over GasTerra Flames. Christos Tapoutos scored 14 points to pace four Aris scorers in double figures in pushing the Greek club’s record to 3-1. Dominic James tallied 13 points while Sergio Kerusch scored 9 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and Sam Muldrow chipped in 10 points. GasTerra was eliminated from the Last 16 by dropping to 0-4 in the group despite 17 points from David Bell and 14 points by Avis Wyatt, while Alex Wesby scored 11.

Wyatt got Gasterra on the board first with a layup and the visitors jumped out to 6-12 on Bell’s three-pointer. Aris cut the margin to 2 on a James layup before Bell’s free throws extended the cushion to 13-19. Aris however answered with 7 straight points to claim its first lead 20-19. Gasterra briefly reclaimed the lead before Aris closed the quarter on a surge for a 25-22 lead after 10 minutes. Tapoutos scored 5 straight points in helping Aris open a 10-point lead. Two Jason Dourisseau baskets cut the deficit to 32-26 before Jones hit a three-pointer to start a 16-0 run – which included an Eleftherios Bochoridis three-pointer and a dunk by Muldrow and was completed by a Ronald Davis layup – for a 48-26 lead. Wesby’s three-point play stopped the run and Kevin McCleery’s layup had the deficit down to 48-33 at half-time.

Wyatt’s basket opened the second half and Wesby’s three-point play made it a 48-38 game. Aris went more than four minutes before scoring with a James free throw and Matej Krusic’s 2 foul shots pushed it to 51-38 for Aris. Bell made a triple to cut it back to 10 points before Aris finished the third quarter on a 6-2 run for a 57-43 lead. Kerusch nailed a three-ball to start the fourth quarter for Aris and scored a layup for a 62-43 cushion before Wyatt’s free throw got Gasterra on the scoring board. Kerusch hit another three-pointer and a foul shot and Davis also drained a long ball as the advantage ballooned to 73-44. Wesby finally scored GasTerra’s first basket of the quarter with 3:36 left in the game to trim the game to 73-46. Wyatt and Bell hit back-to-back threes and Wesby’s long ball trimmed the deficit to 75-57 with a minute to play.