Keravnos Strovolos eased past struggling Omonoia at the Eleftheria

LONNIE Cooper poured in 22 points including six three-pointers as Keravnos Strovolos trounce Omonoia Nicosia 98-70 in the last game of the national basketball championship’s Round 4 on Monday night at the Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Athletic Center.

The Strovolos team took off to a 15-5 lead in the opening stages of the game as their post player Panayiotis Trisokkas and Joseph Garcia dominated the proceedings, but the hosts quickly replied with an 18-3 run to close the first quarter leading by five at 23-18. They then had a six-point lead early in the second period at 28-22 but Adi Azoulay’s men responded with a 16-0 streak to take a 10-point lead at 38-28 which was eventually stopped by Linas Juknevicius who made two free throws to make it 38-30 with 4:14 left in the first half. However, the visitors made 10 of 13 three-point shot attempts in the first half to provide themselves with a comfortable 16-point cushion at the half time interval 52-36.

They then continued in the same rhythm after the break and outscored Omonoia Nicosia 27-15 in the third quarter to enter the final ten minutes leading by 77-51. The last period was a mere formality as the one the main title contenders cruised to their third victory of the season in style.

Anthony Harris led Omonoia Nicosia with 27 points and five assists, while Brandon Jenkins chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds. Nikola Tutus finished the game with 11 points.

Carmelo Lee and Samuel Jones had 16 points apiece for Keravnos Strovolos. They were both on fire on the night as Lee hit four for five from behind the arc, while Jones did not miss at all six for six from the field and two for two from the charity stripe. Bryant Smith had 12 points.

Keravnos Strovolos is off in the next round this coming weekend, while has a difficult test against their ex-head coach Renos Pittalis and his new team BMC AEK at the Kition Athletic Center in Larnaca.

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