Olympiakos edges out Aris through Q4 rally

Olympiakos needed a late rally to beat visiting Aris 76-64 on Christmas Eve and stay one point behind leader Panathinaikos, that thrashed bottom side Kavala, while AEK and Korivos won two nail-biting games away from home.

Aris posed a stiff challenge to Olympiakos on Thursday but had no answer to the 20-9 partial score that Olympiakos had in the last period to win the match at the Peace and Friendship Stadium by 12.

Panathinaikos eased to an 88-54 home win over Kavala, with youngster Giorgos Papayiannis topping the scoring with 15 points. The Greens enjoy a perfect 11 out of 11, two games before the halfway point of the regular season.

AEK has moved up to third, following Aris’s loss and its 86-85 thrilling win in overtime at Kolossos Rhodes on Wednesday, on Jure Zdovc’s debut on the AEK bench. Korivos Amaliadas is alone in fifth after edging out host Arkadikos 89-88 at Tripoli.

In other games Apollon Patras downed Lavrio 90-73, PAOK beat Trikala 82-67 and Rethymno defeated Kifissia 74-61.