THE PAOK were extremely competitive against Bilbao In Spain for the first final of the FIBA Europe Cup, but did not avoid defeat 72-65 in the first final of the competition.
Starring Bartley and Henderson, PAOK was even ahead shortly before the end of the third quarter, but Bilbao ran a big series in the final of the match to take the first “step” to win the Fiba Europe Cup.
The Thessalonians now need to overthrow the situation and -7 in the rematch of Pylea, where they will also have the help of their fans, who have already sold out the match.
The game
Bilbao started the “hot” match against PAOK, as it achieved 4/5 three -pointers in the start and that was the only ways he scored against the Thessaloniki. The Greek team, however, tried to stay close to scoring and finding baskets in the surprise after a consecutive good defenses on the racket starring Anson even reduced the basket. But a small blackout at the end of the first quarter brought 22-12 in favor of the Basque at 10 ′.
The second period was better for PAOK, as Papadakis came from the “bench” and … woke up his team, resulting in improved both aggressive and defensively improved. The difference fell into the basket again, but it was Bilbao who again escaped shortly before the half, which ended with 38-31.
After the respite, PAOK saw Bartley get … in front of the defense and continuing to extremely high levels, the difference was further reduced. The Thessaloniki quickly brought the match straight (40-40) to take the lead shortly after 48-44. But there was another bad closure of the Greek team, to close the quarter with 52-50 in favor of the Basque.
More in a little while…