A small miracle was achieved by Aris in the final of the quarter-final with PAOK: 76-74 with a reversal from -15 in the 34th minute and with Vassilis Toliopoulos the absolute protagonist, who celebrated the feat with tears of joy.
“Two-Headed” entered the game hot and led 25-11 at the end of the first period. The difference jumped to 16 points with three pointers by Margaritis, Michalak (33-17) and the half ended with a score of 43-29. PAOK’s cheap mistakes quickly put the “yellow and black” back in the game: 45-40.
Vassilis Toliopoulos’ four consecutive three-pointers helped Aris come back from 49-64 and reach within touching distance in the last two minutes: 73-72.
Blumbergs equalized with 2/2 shots at 52” and the amazing Toliopoulos gave his team the lead with a personal basket 13” before the final. “That’s our identity, that we never give up,” he commented.
Toliopoulos scored 17 of his 24 points in the final five minutes and was 5/10 from 3-point range. Harel 11, Katsivelis 7, De Souza 7, Stark 6, Blombergs 6 offered a helping hand for the team of Yannis Kastritis.
From Fotis Takianou’s PAOK, Michalak 13, Towns 11, Margaritis 11, Tsairelis 10, Williams 9 distinguished themselves.
Aris will face Panathinaikos in Saturday’s first semi-final, who narrowly defeated AEK 79-72 in the opening match of the competition (Mitoglou 22, Lessor 16, Grant 13, Nan 12 – Kuzminskas 18, Macrei 14).
In Friday’s quarterfinals, Olympiacos will face Peristeri (6 p.m.) and Prometheus will face Panionios (9 p.m.).
The semi-finals will be held on Saturday and the final on Sunday evening. The final-8 is hosted, as last year, at Dio Aorakia of Heraklion.
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