By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens resisted a tough CSKA Moscow but prevailed over with a 106-102 overtime victory in Round 17 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, to improve to a 10-7 record in the standings at the end of the first half of the regular season.
It was a fairly balanced battle between the two sides for most of the game, with Panathinaikos‘ quality being the key part towards the final victory. Nick Calathes (22 points) sent the game to overtime after hitting a three-pointer with six seconds to go and evening the score to 89 points.
The momentum of the extra five-minute period was on the Greek team’s side, as Calathes and Konstantinos Mitoglou helped the team march on to the victory.
“It was an awesome victory. We kept talking in every timeout: ‘Keep it close, keep it close like last year, we will make a run at the end.’ We did that right at the end of regulation to put it into overtime. Good balance, good spacing, made the shots,” mentioned Rick Pitino after the game.
Mitoglou posts career-high to lift the Greens
Mitoglou was the man of the game for Panathinaikos, as he exited the court with a strong performance, aka a double-double of 25 points and 15 rebounds in nearly 40 minutes on the court. “It is a great feeling. We got the win, of course. Big congratulations to CSKA, they played amazing and we know how great a team it is. I want to thank all my teammates for the effort and the coaching staff. We have to build on this win,” Mitoglou said after the game.
On the other end of the floor, Mike James and Daniel Hackett were CSKA’s main scorers, with 30 and 24 points each. James tried to ruin Panathinaikos’ party in the final minute of overtime, though CSKA now falls to an 11-6 record, ending a three-game winning streak.
Photo: EuroLeague