Panathinaikos bagged the coveted victory. It downed Fenerbahce/Ulker at the OAKA indoors arena too by 72-62 and got an important victory with the help of its fans too.
Same as last week in Turkey, Panathinaikos got the reins of the game from the very first minutes. Fenerbahce/Ulker found itself trailing behind in the score quickly enough. By 2’52’’ the score was 8-2; the Turkish team tried to bounce back into the game and with a ‘big three’ by Bojan Bogdanovic cut the margin down to two points (11-9, 5’10’’). The “clover’s” reaction was something much more than immediate. With Kostas Tsartsaris starring in offense the score turned into 21-9 (8’), Panathinaikos got to 22-13, and continued with a 7-0 run to reach 29-13 (11’) with David Logan pressing, stealing and sinking the ball in the basket. The “Greens” reached again a 16-point lead soon after (34-18, 14’), before the end of halftime with the scoreboard reading 40-27.
Zeljko Obradovic saw his players keeping up the same tempo and breaking even further away from their opponents by stretching the lead even further, to +19 points (53-34) with Ian Vougioukas being successful in two free throws. Fenerbahce/Ulker made an effort to cut close to the score, getting to 55-43 (28’18’’), with the third quarter ending at 58-43; the effort paid off and a little later it got to 58-49 (33’), managing to impose its own game for a little while and lead its opponents to turnovers. However, a full-fledge outburst by the “Greens” with Vougioukas, Jasikevicius and Tsartsaris in the leading roles, led to an 18-point lead (67-49, 34’50’’). Tsartsaris continued playing one of his best games yet and made the score 69-51 (36’10’’), before the Turkish team made a last ditch effort to nibble the margin. A 9-0 run by the visiting team led the score to 69-60 (37’40’’). An out-of-this-world three-pointer by Mike Batiste sent the score difference to +12 (72-60) with Panathinaikos sealing victory by 72-62.
Referees: Ziemblicki (Poland), Lottermoser (Germany), Shulga (Ukraine)
By quarter: 24-13, 40-27, 58-43, 72-62
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Maric, Perperoglou 1, Batiste 11, Logan 2, Sato 9, Tsartsaris 21, Diamantidis 8, Vougioukas 9, Calathes N. 3, Kyritsis, Kaimakoglou 3, Jasikevicius 5
Fenerbahce/Ulker (Spahija): Ukic 13, Jerrells 11, Turkcan 5, Atsur 4, Vidmar, Peker 5, Gist, Savas 8, Bogdanovic 15, Preldzic 1
