Aris beats PAOK in Cup’s Thessaloniki derby

Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, AEK and Aris make up the line-up of the semifinals of the Greek Cup in basketball following the quarterfinals that took place on Wednesday.

Holder Panathinaikos appeared ready for the season’s first main challenge, the league derby at Olympiakos on Sunday behind closed doors, thrashing host Kolossos on Rhodes with an 84-54 score.

The Reds also won by 30 points away from home, defeating newly formed Faros Larissas, the team that came from the merger of Faros Keratsiniou (in Piraeus) with Gymnastikos Larissas. Olympiakos won 97-67 enjoying the return of Vassilis Spanoulis and Costas Papanikolaou from injury.

The big match of the day was the Thessaloniki derby, in which host Aris defeated PAOK 70-63 on the debut of Panayiotis Giannakis on the Aris bench, in his second spell at the club.

As for AEK, it saw off visiting Rethymno 92-67 in Athens, although its coach Sotiris Manolopoulos said his team did not satisfy him.

The semifinals will take place on November 5, with the draw set to take place in the next few days.