Greece A1: PAOK gives Olympiacos 1st loss

Riding on a 13-0 record in the 2012-13 Greece A1 league and having not lost a league match since May 4th of 2012, Olympiacos took to the road to take on PAOK, who was in the fifth spot at 9-4. Not only had Olympiacos won their first 13 Greece A1 games, they also had an 11-game winning streak against PAOK on the line that dated back to January 27, 2008 (exactly five years prior), which was the second match-up between the two during the 2007-08 season. The outcome of this contest would be in favor of PAOK, 76:71, moving the hosts up to fourth place in the league and putting Olympiacos only one game up on the second place club Panathinaikos, who plays their Week 14 match on Monday against No. 8 Aris TT Bank. Olympiacos plays Panathinaikos on Feb. 4, 2013 in their Week 15 match-up.

PAOK got up early, taking a 7:2 lead in the first two minutes, but had that countered by Olympiacos who dropped three, three-balls to get a lead at 7:11. Mid-way through the first quarter, Olympiacos lost guard Vangelis Mantzaris to an injury, but they were able to come out of the first 10 with a slim advantage, 20:21. The clubs exchanged leads through the second frame, with the hosts get up at the half, 39:37, to take a lead into the break.

By the mid-way point in the third PAOK had opened up a five-point margin, 48:43, but Olympiacos countered and tied the score at 48. By the end of the third frame the margin was still insignificant at one-point, 55:54.

The hosts extended their lead to 60:56 after a minute and a half of play, but and Olympiacos 0:8 scoring run that included two consecutive triples by Stratos Perperoglou and Vassilis Spanoulis gave them a lead at 60:64. Lazaros Papadopoulos dropped in a pair of deuces late in the fourth to put PAOK up 73:69 with 27 seconds to play. Free throws closed out scoring, giving PAOK a big home win.

Kostas Haralampikis picked up 15 for PAOK, Papadopoulos (10 rebounds) and Haritopoulos hit 13 points each.

Spanoulis’ 17 points and 8 assists was game-high for Olympiacos, while Georgios Printezis contributed 16.