Korac 1997 Final: Aris Thessaloniki beats Tofas Bursa in a hostile final

In 1997 the Korac final was played between two historic rivals, who offered us two matches full of passion, tension and at times hostility. Interestingly, the home team did not win in either match, and the Greeks won in Turkey against the odds, with Piculin Ortiz as the most outstanding player

Quarterfinals
Unicaja Málaga – Mazowszanka
Aris Thessaloniki – Peristeri
Tofas Bursa – Cáceres
Rome – Benetton

Semi-finals
Mazowszanka – Tofas Bursa
Aris Thessaloniki – Benetton

The Turkish Tofaş beat Aris Thessaloniki in the first leg of the Cup final Korać (66-77) thanks in large part to the extraordinary contribution of its American center Rashard Griffith, author of 19 points and 14 rebounds. The match, which had been preceded by a heated atmosphere due to the historical rivalry between the Greek and Turkish peoples, and which had already had a serious precedent in the eventful 1993 European Cup final between Aris and Efes Pilsen, was plagued by incidents. The match started half an hour later than scheduled due to a fault in the electronic scoreboard, and during the course of the game the FIBA commissioner, the Czech Ľubomír Kotleba, was forced to suspend the game on several occasions due to the continuous throwing of objects onto the court. Unexpectedly, Aris Thessaloniki managed to overcome the eleven-point lead that Tofaş Bursa had gained in Thessaloniki to end up winning 70-88 and winning the Cup Korać. The Greeks dominated the entire match thanks to their better team play, above the individualities of the Turkish team, in which only Steve Rogers (26 points) stood out. The great architect of the victory of Aris was its American center Charles Shackleford, a real master of rebounds, which allowed quick counter-attacks completed by his teammates.

Aris Thessaloniki 
*Sioutis – 7.5p, 5.0a
*Liadelis – 13.0p, 1.0a
*Boni – 18.0p, 5.5r
*Ortiz – 22.0p, 6.5r
*Shackleford – 5.5p, 7.5r
Stavrakopoulos – 2.5p, 2.0r
Angelidis – 7.0p, 3.5r
Floros – 0p. (1)
Nahar – 1p, 1r. (1)
Cholopoulos – 2p, 2r. (1)

Tofas Bursa
*Alanovic – 8.5p, 3.5r
*Rogers – 18.0p, 3.0r
*Konuk – 9.0p, 3.5r
*Avdic – 4.0p, 3.5r
*Griffith – 13.0p, 11.5r
Bas – 15.0p, 3.5r
Topsakal – 6.0p, 2.0r
Erden – 0p. (1)