By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos tried their best, but Valencia managed to get the close 94-91 overtime win and defend their home court.
It was a team effort for the Spaniards with Bojan Dubljevic scoring 23 points, Chris Jones adding 20, and James Webb had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“It’s a really important victory for us”, admitted Dubljevic who had a season-high, and his team tied Panathinaikos at a 6-7 record.
Add also Jasiel Rivero who had 16 points and played a pivotal role in crunch time to get the full picture.
“It was important for our fans, we played pretty well, especially in the third quarter and we got the win”, added Valencia coach Alex Mumbru.
On the other side, Dwayne Bacon had 22 points and Derrick Williams scored 21, both falling short in the end to make one more big shot and give the win to their team.
It was a highly competitive game with Panathinaikos leading by six at the end of the first period (26-20) and then Valencia getting the advantage at halftime (44-41) and entering the last quarter (70-63).
In the closing seconds with the score tied at 84, first Jones missed the chance to give Valencia the lead with four seconds left, and then Bacon casually attempted a long shot way behind the arc that couldn’t go in as the game went to overtime instead of going towards the basket.
However two minutes before the end of the overtime, it was Bacon that gave Panathinaikos the 91-90 lead again with a three. That was the last time Panathinaikos got the lead with Rivero making two buckets and getting a huge offensive rebound. The Greeks had the chance to send the game again to overtime and Derrick Williams had a shot near the halfcourt to make things happen, but it didn’t go in.
Still, James Webb got the rebound and stepped on the sideline with 0,9 seconds left and Panathinaikos had one last shot. Williams got the ball again, but he also stepped on the sideline for a very anti-climatic ending.