Intercollege ETHA revive slim survival hopes

TIMOTHY SMITH nailed 23 points to help Intercollege ETHA snap a five-game losing streak with victory over Pizza Express Apollon 71-61 on Monday night in Nicosia.

Although the Engomi side committed ten turnovers more than the favored visitors, they managed to out-rebound Pizza Express Apollon 37-25 and held the edge in 3-pointers, sinking nine from behind the arc while the Limassol side scored only five out of 23 attempts.

Newly signed American point guard Timothy Smith exploded in his second game for the hosts, inspiring his team to a convincing 37-21 first half lead.

Smith scored 15 of his overall 23 points during this period. The visitors looked and played lethargically scoring only seven points in the opening quarter. However, they tried to climb back in the game early in the third period reducing the deficit to only three points on several occasions, but Intercollege ETHA pulled away at the beginning of the final quarter and never looked back.

Intercollege ETHA’s Serbian point guard Sasa Avalic expressed his satisfaction with the team’s first victory in this year’s campaign: “From the tip-off we have showed that we want this win more than Pizza Express Apollon. We played a disciplined basketball, and supported each other greatly throughout the game. We have to build up on this victory and ease our league status by defeating Hassapis Omonoia in the next round.”

Quincy Davis had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Engomi side, while Mitar Trivunovic chipped in with 11 points.

Earnest Shelton led Pizza Express Apollon with 20 points, and Ivan Tomeljak added 16.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.