The 3rd matchday of the Limassol League concluded last night with victories for the favorites, and the main contenders for the title are gradually beginning to emerge, although there is still a long way to go until the end of the season.
Apollon Heat and Trachoni secured comfortable victories over Red Panda Moufflons and Art Eat ENAATH, respectively, while the St. Nicolas Pistols, who follow in third place, won the derby against Arthouros on Thursday night.
The league-leading team, Apollon Heat, did not face much difficulty in getting a double victory from the Agios Nikolaos High School against the Red Panda Moufflons, whom they defeated with an impressive score of 44-69. Mykola Nesushchyi’s team only met resistance from the home side in the first quarter, and with a burst in the second, they gained a double-digit lead, which they extended in the second half.
- Top Scorers for Heat: Kazachanskii (18 pts), Titov (15 pts), and Pichugin (10 pts).
- Top Scorer for Moufflons: Rihards Kronitis (17 pts).
An offensive crescendo in the second half was the necessary ingredient for Trachoni to achieve their 3rd consecutive victory in this year’s Championship, prevailing over Art Eat ENAATH with 88-63. Christodoulos Sophocleous’ team met strong resistance from the visitors in the first half, during which the two teams were running neck-and-neck.
In the second half, however, Trachoni, led by Kranopolski (23 pts), Georgiou (22 pts), and Sparivak (13 pts), significantly increased their offensive pace, eventually leading to a comfortable win. Top Scorers for Art Eat ENAATH: Emmanouilidis (25 pts) and Pipiros (13 pts).
In Thursday’s derby, the St. Nicolas Pistols achieved their goal in the end, defeating the spirited Arthouros with 70-66, in a game that was decided in its final stages. The visitors, who had their best performance of the season, started the match more dynamically, taking a lead of up to +13 halfway through the 2nd quarter.
However, George Aggonas’ team reacted, cut the deficit to 3 by halftime, and took a slight lead for the first time at the beginning of the final quarter, which they fiercely held until the end.
- Top Scorers for Pistols (Winners): Shirkin (19 pts) and Triantafyllou (18 pts).
- Top Scorers for Arthouros (Last year’s Champions): Zenkov (25 pts) and Antorkas (15 pts).
