Pysichiko took on Halkida on Friday evening in the Greek A2 league, and the visitors left with the win, 77 to 87. The scoreline tells you everything about a game that started tight and ended with the away side pulling clear. We had backed the hosts at 58 per cent confidence, but the match went another way.
Pysichiko sit eighth after 28 games, 15 wins and 13 defeats with no draws to cushion things. They came into this looking for momentum after their loss to Laveio on October second, 55 to 74, and had a run of results against Proteas Voulas earlier in the season to work from. Halkida arrived off their 77 to 73 win over Peiramatiko Mahitess on October third, another tight affair decided by four points.
The visitors never really let the home side back in once they went ahead. By then they had seen enough of Pysichiko to know where the gaps were, and they punished them from the outside when it mattered. The home side threw bodies in the way but could not stop the rhythm building on the other end.
What stood out was how the game opened up after the first quarter, with Halkida finding their range and Pysichiko unable to answer. The hosts had their chances but never got going when they needed to. It was not a bad effort, but effort alone does not win games in this league.
The result leaves Pysichiko with 15 wins and 13 losses, still in the hunt but with less breathing room than before. Halkida move closer to the top half with a victory that should give them confidence going forward. The gap between the sides is narrowing, and next time the margin might be different.
