The 14th victory in row
Stadium: “Melina Merkouri”
Tickets: 1000
“A bird with two stones” for Panathinaikos this afternoon in Rethimno after beating the league newcomers by 89-74. Zeliko Obradovic΄ team was explosive at times and got the win, extending their unbeaten run to 14-0 and taking advantage of Olympiacos΄ defeat to PAOK. This resulted in a 2-point margin at the top of the table for PAO – the most important step to the first place in regular season. PAO played with composure and concentration for 40 minutes and took the lead right from the start (10-22, 9΄) keeping the same tempo up to the end of the first half. Becirovic showed the way (9 out of his team΄s first 11 points) and Vassilis Spanoulis increased the team tempo when he entered the game. The first half ended with PAO at +12 (33-45) and being the team that prevailed. In the second half it was Mike Batiste΄s turn in offense but what΄s most important is that the American forward showed he has fully overcome his injury. PAO kept on controlling the game with Rethimno trying to react momentarily thanks to Vougioukas and Young when they closed up the margin (25΄, 50-52). At that moment though Panathinaikos showed their potential and the final 74-89 was applauded by the 600 fans in the Rethimno arena.
