Anorthosis has taken off and is going for big things. "Kyria" won the derby of the 15th game of the Basket League by beating Petrolina AEK 82-72 at the Second Technical School of Limassol, a week after the big double over APOEL (83-46).
The team from Famagusta thus reached its fifth consecutive victory, eighth in its last nine games and 11th in 14 matches in the league, continuing to figure in the first places of the standings, with AEK suffering only its second defeat of the season (in 13 matches ).
Leading for Tony Konstantinidis' team were Horton with 21 points (2 rebounds, 2 assists), Skinner with 17 (8 rebounds, one assist) and Lee with 16 points (5 rebounds, seven assists), while Brown stood out from Larnaca with 27 points (8 rebounds, 4 assists).
The match report from KOK:
With a victory for Anorthosis, the top derby for the 15th matchday of the 1st phase for the championship of the OPAP Basket League was completed.
In the match that took place in the hall of the 2nd technical school of Limassol, the team of Famagusta beat that of Larnaca with a score of 82-72 and thus remained at the top of the standings, but with one game more than their tonight's opponent.
At halftime, the score was 49-43 for the eventual winner, who was led by Talton (16 points, 2/4 2-pointers, 4/8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds).
A dynamic start for AEK, which imposed a fast pace in the game and was quite accurate, leading in the 4' with 16-6, against Anorthosis who was looking for solutions in defense.
But then Anorthosis reacted with a 9-0 run, reduced the difference to a point (16-15) and through a continued fast pace, Anorthosis then overtook with 20-19.
The two teams kept up with the score until the end of the 1st period, at which point the score was tied at 24-24.
The 2nd period started at a slower pace, but with both teams keeping pace with the score. Anorthosis found solutions mainly from the perimeter and while shortly after 15', the score was again at zero and at 35-35
In the time points that followed the lead, it kept changing hands, but shortly after 18`, Anorthosis led 45-41 and at halftime they were ahead 49-43.
Anorthosis took a 55-47 lead at the beginning of the 3rd period, in a period of time where the tempo remained at a high level, while as time went on, the game became more and more interesting.
At 27`, the score went to 61-53 for Anorthosis, which was more accurate at these time points, while shortly before the end of the 3rd period, the home team led 66-57 and at 30`, they were ahead with 66 -60.
Although the 4th period started with more careful choices and became slower, shortly after 33', Anorthosis led 71-64 and shortly before 35', with 74-64.
It was the first time that the difference had risen to a double-digit value, while then the score went to 76-64, always in favor of the home team.
Now it was also the timer, Anorthosis' ally, although shortly after 37', AEK was down to 76-68.
However, a three-pointer by Horton was decisive, as the score went to 79-68, i.e. to +11 for Anorthosis, which now in the remaining time, was looking for the reversal of -18, i.e. the difference by which it had lost in 1st round game.
In the end, Anorthosis was the winner of the derby, with a final score of 82-72.
DECADES: 24-24, 49-43, 66-60, 82-72.
Anorthosis (Antonis Konstantinidis): Taylor 2, Tretiakov 10 (2), Mouosa 12 (2), Horton 21 (6), Skinner 17 (2), Talton 16 (4), Tobazos, Maragos 4.
Petrolina AEK (Christophoros Livadiotis): Hollingsworth 13 (1), Simitzis 8 (2), Brown 27, Hunt 16, Mantovanis 3 (1), Bishop 2, Sizopoulos 3 (1), Loizidis, Pantelis.