Aris handed European champions Olympiacos their first defeat in the Greek championship, beating Alexander Vezenkov and his teammates 100:78 (23:23, 24:20, 29:16, 24:19) at home in a game from the seventh round.
Thus, after six consecutive wins, Olympiacos suffered a defeat, while Aris continue with the same 6-1 record as Panathinaikos. PAOK are the leaders in Greece with seven consecutive victories.
Vezenkov started for the visitors from Piraeus and finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 35 minutes on the court.
The two teams played an evenly matched first half in Thessaloniki, which ended with the hosts leading by 4 points, 47:43. A better third quarter gave Aris a 76:49 lead after 30 minutes of play, and in the remaining time the Thessaloniki-based team extended their advantage to 22 points.
The hosts demonstrated tremendous shooting from long range, making 14 three-pointers from 29 attempts, compared with just 4 three-pointers from 18 attempts for the Olympiacos players. The visitors also committed nearly twice as many turnovers—18 compared with 10 for the Aris players.
Matt Morgan was Aris’ top scorer with 21 points, while Evan Fournier led Olympiacos with 29 points and 3 rebounds.
Alexander Vezenkov and company will next face Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv on November 17 in the EuroLeague, followed three days later by a home game against Spanish club Real Madrid.