By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos got a vital win in their aspirations to reach the Top 4 by taking down Unicaja 90 – 79 in Malaga.
Unicaja dominated the first half and took a 12-point advantage at the break. The guests considerably improved running the floor in the second period and thanks to Lukas Lekavicius -10 points in the last quarter- the Greens took the lead. But the one that really decided the game was KC Rivers, who led the game in scoring with 24 points and also stole 5 balls.
Xavi Pascual missed his backcourt players Marcus Denmon, Matt Lojeski and Nikos Pappas, who were injured. Panathinaikos struggled during the first half and pulled just 1-of-14 from three-point territory but Rivers improved that percentage in the second half. The shooting guard dropped 6 of his last 7 three-pointers to destroy Unicaja, scoring four of them in the last 10 minutes.
The Greek team was in positions of home court advantage but after three straight defeats saw its future in Europe endangered. Panathinaikos breathes after this victory and will face the important clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv next Thursday (20/3) less worried.
James Gist contributed to the victory with 16 points against his former team while Nick Calathes flirted with triple-double (12 points, 11 assists and 8 boards). Nemanja Nedovic led the home side in scoring with 19 and 7 assists and Jeff Brook added 14 points.
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