Return to victories for Panathinaikos in the Euroleague after the buzzer beater in the home game against Nancy was sounded, score at 83-69. The win in game 8 of the league provides mathematically qualification to the Top 16 round for Panathinaikos.
Better at most partial periods of time in the game, Panathinaikos proved its superiority to Nancy on the floor but nevertheless did not avoid a few mistakes so much in defense as in offense that made the accumulation of a substantial difference in the score an unfeasible situation. The French team by making use mostly of the 5 offensive rebounds it had gathered half way through the encounter, its players athletic features that jogged them to not waste any chance to run the open field and the “three-leaf-clover” team’s turnovers (10 in the first half) managed to stay close in the game. The clock had to get to minute 14 for the “Greens” to be able to pace the game into their rhythm, leaving their opponents trailing even by 12 points, margin that marked half time score (39-27).
The game picked up exactly where it had left off second half commencing. Panathinaikos thanks to mini break outs got away, reached +15 (49-34 at 23’20’’, 53-38 at 26’) and though Nancy tried to fight back, it only managed to trim the gap momentarily, but it wasn’t long before it returned to its double digit level. The French did not get any closer than 8 points (60-52 at 30’20’’) and coach Obradovic was fortunate to see his players collaborating more precisely and more productively, Mike Batiste finishing up notoriously around the basket, Dusan Sakota connecting on two triples and Giorgi Shermadini making his first bucket in the Euroleague from the charity stripe, having ½ free shots at 34’30’’to make the score 73-60. The lead peaked for Panathinaikos at 39’10’’, score at 83-67 for a +16 advantage and at this curtains fell in the encounter, final score 83-69.
Referees: Hierrezuelo, Kolar, Perez
Quarters: 17-15, 39-27, 60-50, 83-69
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman 2, Spanoulis 7, Perperoglou 16 (8rbs), Batiste 10, Fotsis 5, Hatzivrettas 1, Nicholas 5 (3as), Tsartsaris 11, Diamantidis 12 (3stl), Sakota 8, Jasikevicius 5, Shermadini 1
Nancy (Monschau): Cox 11, Morandais 4, Wilson 14, Greer J. 8, Tchicamboud, Aboubakar, Samnick 11, Greer R. 21, Njoya
*At 8’15’’ in the game Giorgi Shermadini stepped on the floor for his first participation in the Euroleague. Not on the official roster were Dimitris Verginis, Nikola Pekovic and Fragiskos Alvertis.
*At half-time intermission apart from the usual games that take place, the show was stolen by a marriage proposal that was made in view of all the fans on the court from Lampis to Mirto, her answer was yes and the wish that followed the whole proposal was “together in joy and in sadness” (the exact way it was said in Greek “Stis xares kai stis lipes mazi”, is a lyric from one of the fans’ songs for their team Panathinaikos…)
