The 3rd round of the Second Phase of the Nicosia Championship tipped off last night with impressive victories by the EUC Warriors and the UNIC Senior Eagles, as the two university teams defeated PN99 and the Nicosia Wizards respectively.
In the Gold Division derby, the “Warriors” of Apostolos Memtsoudis arguably produced their best performance of the season, handing last year’s champions their first loss of the Second Phase (second overall this season) with a convincing 69–83 defeat — and by their largest margin in a long time.
Indicative of the Warriors’ superiority was the fact that PN99 never took the lead at any point in the game, while the nominal visitors stretched the margin to as much as +18 at one stage. Another decisive factor in the Warriors’ win was their excellent perimeter shooting, knocking down 12 of 26 three-pointers (46%), compared to just 5 of 21 (24%) for PN99.
The game unfolded perfectly for the winners from start to finish. After a balanced opening, they built a lead that they managed to maintain until the final buzzer, without the reigning champions ever being able to mount a serious challenge at any stage.
Leading the winners was Charis Spyrou with 18 points (5/5 from three), followed by Agathangelou and Ioannou with 16 and 12 points respectively. For PN99, Petros Konnafis delivered a big performance (22 points, 13 rebounds), with Prokopiou and Toumazos adding 14 and 13 respectively. With this Warriors victory, the two teams are now tied for 2nd place, alongside ESOBGA, who have a game in hand.
The UNIC Senior Eagles had little trouble overcoming the resistance of the Nicosia Wizards, defeating them 64–38 last night. As a result, the two teams are now tied at the top of the Silver Division, together with EAK, who have a game in hand.
Giorgos Teoulidis’ team, despite taking the court with just six players, controlled most of the game at the Agios Dometios Indoor Hall, and especially in the second half did not allow the Wizards any real hopes of staying competitive.
With the exception of the early stages, when the teams were relatively close, the “Eagles” steadily extended their lead from the start of the second half onward, while the “Wizards” appeared to run out of energy and were unable to respond.
Giorgos Zavos stood out for the winners with 25 points, supported by Giorgos Teoulidis with 19. For the visitors, Angelos Michaelidis and Sotiris Christodoulou were the top scorers with 11 points each.
