HEBA A1

AEK survived the strong challenge of PAOK in Athens to all but confirm the third place in the regular season of the Basket League, while leaders Olympiakos and Panathinaikos scored wins on the road.

Preserving its perfect home record after 10 matches at the Olympic Sports Hall, AEK saw off PAOK with a 77-71 score on Saturday with 17 points from Roko Leni Ukic.

Rethymno upset AEK in the midweek set of Basket League fixtures, while PAOK narrowly escaped one more home loss. There were no problems for leaders Olympiakos and Panathinaikos in their home games, as the Euroleague has gone into a one-week recess.

Olympiakos and AEK survived scares from Kolossos Rhodes and Trikala respectively as they fought back to score wins in the Basket League, though PAOK was not so lucky, suffering an upset at struggling Apollon Patras.

Kolossos Rhodes forced AEK's third loss in the Basket League this season on Monday, allowing fourth-placed Aris to cut the distance to just one point from its Athens rival for the third spot, ahead of their clash in the capital in the next round of games.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos braved the strong challenges of hosts PAOK and Trikala respectively to emerge unscathed from a tricky Sunday, in the midst of a hot period in the Euroleague where they have to play three European games in just eight days.

Panathinaikos is now alone in second on the Basket League table after beating crosstown rival AEK 77-68 on Sunday to stay one point behind leader Olympiakos.

The Greens had former AEK player Yiannis Bouroussis to thank for his performance that helped them overcome the strong resistance of visiting AEK in the first three quarters of the derby and inflict AEK's second league defeat.

Promoted Kymi scored its biggest win ever downing Champions League challenger PAOK to boost its chances to stay up in its first ever season in the top flight.

The Evia team, that plays its home games in Halkida, came from behind to beat the Thessaloniki giant 93-82 on Saturday.

Olympiakos defeated AEK at home on Saturday and is now alone on top of the Basket League with eight wins in as many games.

The Reds won 78-67 to inflict AEK's first league loss this season as its spectacular run came to an end. Led by Matt Lojeski (17 points), Olympiakos advanced by up to 21 points before AEK reduced the deficit in the end.

Panathinaikos shook off the two defeats within 48 hours in the Euroleague last week to beat host Aris in the Basket league on Monday and remain one point behind leaders Olympiakos and AEK.

Led by birthday-boy Chris Singleton (16 points), Panathinaikos overcame the Champions League challenger with a 71-59 score in what traditionally is one of the trickiest trips for the Athens giants.

Olympiakos came from behind (76-72) in the end to defeat archrival and host Panathinaikos 79-77 after a spectacular all-Greek encounter for the Euroleague at the Olympic Sports Hall on Friday. The winner has moved on to a 5-3 record, while Panathinaikos is on four wins in eight games.