Panelefsiniakos B.C. (Greek: Πανελευσινιακός K.A.E.) is a Greek professional basketball club that is located in Elefsina, Greece. Panelefsiniakos basketball section was founded in 1969, and the club is also commonly known as Elefsina B.C. The team competes in the Greek B Basket League since 2015.
History
The club's parent athletic association, Panelefsiniakos A.O.K. Elefsina, was founded in the year 1931. The club's basketball section, Panelefsiniakos B.C., was founded in the year 1969. Panelefsiniakos B.C. won the Greek Second Division championship in 2012.[1]
2012–2015: The A1 experience
The club competed in the first tier professional basketball league in Greece (Greek Basket League) for first time in its history in the 2012–13 season. Panelefsiniakos made a mediocre start at its debut Greek Basket League season, as the team registered just 2 victories in the first 10 match days of the league. The team spent the first round playing at Peristeri Arena (17 km away from the town of Elefsina), due to necessary renovation to its home court which lasted for about 3 months.
In order to avoid relegation, Panelefsiniakos improved its performance in the following months and got crucial wins at home against PAOK, Panionios and Peristeri. The team of coach Giorgos Skarafigkas beat also KAOD and Rethymno and finished the season with a 7–19 record (11th spot in the standings). Greek combo guardNikos Liakopoulos was the team's season MVP with 15.3 points per game on average and generally had great contribution.
After the end of a successful season, Panelefsiniakos made a lot of important changes to its roster in summer of 2013, including the addition of Olympiacos former captain and Greek NT member Manolis Papamakarios. The blue-whites begun strongly the 2013–14 season with 3 victories in the first 5 games, one of them on the road against Ikaros at Chalkida. Two match days before regular season's end, Panelefsiniakos, led by swingmanDavid Kyles who scored 20 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, crushed Trikala at home and made a decisive step in order to stay at the top division. Finally, the goal was achieved as the club, despite its ups and downs during the year, once again managed to avoid relegation. Coach Skarafigkas' players celebrated 7 wins, in a season where centerLarry Turner (9.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game) and power forwardMouhammad Faye (13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game) were solid.
Panelefsiniakos plays its home games at the Elefsina Indoor Hall (also known as "Gouva"), which has a seating capacity of 1,100 people. The club used Peristeri Indoor Hall for some months in the beginning of the 2012–13 season, due to renovation to its traditional home court.
Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
