By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Once again the triple crown can’t be achieved for Olympiacos as Panathinaikos got the 70-64 win at SEF and the Reds are out of the Greek cup.
In what was a close and mediocre game without fans at the stands – due to Olympiacos‘punishment from last season – the Greens with a 15-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter decided the outcome. The two teams entered the last period tied at 44-44, but after five minutes of action the score was 59-44 for the guests. The hosts tried to pressure the players of coach Djordjevic in order to turn things around, but couldn’t do much better than cutting the final points different to seven points.
In theory Panathinaikos was tired after the preseason trips in China and Moscow, still that wasn’t evident on the court as both teams were out of synch with the exception of the 15-0 Green run. Dimitris Diamantidis had 16 points, James Feldeine scored 14 and Vladimir Jankovic added 12 points. Giorgos Printezis scored 19 points for Olympiacos and Mat Lojeski had 14.
In the first Greek cup quarterfinal of the day, Faros Keratsiniou, a second division team, got the 63-61 overtime win over Nea Kifisia and joined Panathinaikos, PAOK and Aris in the semifinals.