By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The team of coach David Blatt prevailed by five (77-72) behind 24 points by Bradley Wanamaker and 16 by James Anderson. Chris Singleton had an amazing night for Panathinaikos with 23 points, still it was not enough as the Greeks couldn’t score in last two minutes of the game.
The first quarter ended tied at 17 with Mike James beating the buzzer with a three. Panathinaikos managed to get a 33-26 lead, but the answer of Darussafaka was a 9-0 run (35-33) and that was the score at the end of the first half.
The hosts continued to have the upper hand, building a 12 points lead (48-36) after five minutes of play in the second half with Wanamaker having already 17 points and Darussafaka having a partial 22-3 score in their favor. Panathinaikos’ answer was defense as they finally got the lead (49-48) with their own 13-0 run and the third period ended tied at 53.
Thanks to Singleton and Rivers the Greeks opened the last quarter by getting a 58-53 lead, but soon Darussafaka tied the score at 61 and it was obvious that everything was going to be decided on details. With 1.40 left on the clock Wanamaker with a big three gave a 75-72 lead to the hosts and then Will Clyburn with one more big shot (77-72) secured the win.