Panathinaikos put its foot down on the accelerator from the end of the first half onward to reach the final score of 105-78 against Rethymnon in the context of the OPAP BasketLeague 23rd competition date at the OAKA indoors arena.
In the first half, Rethymnon managed to stir trouble for Panathinaikos. The “Greens”, despite getting to 20-12 (5’41’’), found themselves trailing behind in the score (24-28, 9’20’’). Three-pointers and rebounds constituted the two weapons in the Cretans armamentarium and they made the most of them to the highest extent possible. They stayed well into the game as well as into the biggest part of the second quarter (40-40, 16’17’’), before the “Greens” decided to pick up the pace and impose their own law. They reached a twelve-point lead (52-40, 18’27’’) by making better choices in offense, but also by clearly playing more effective defense, so the two teams headed for the locker-rooms with the score being at 55-45.
In continuation the game became even better for Panathinaikos. With the exception of a bracket that brought Rethymnon as close as just six points in the score, (67-61, 24’30’’), Zeljko Obradovic saw his players execute his instructions and break ahead from the visiting team, with Stratos Perperoglou and Kostas Kaimakoglou becoming the spearheads in Panathinaikos’ offenses and Nick Calathes following their example close behind in their footsteps. Kaimakoglou led the score to +21 points (82-61, 27’20’’), Pat Calathes sank a three-pointer to turn it to 100-73 (38’), and Aleks Maric marked the final points for 105-78.
Referees: Somos, Poursanidis G., Tsounas
By quarter: 26-28, 55-45, 84-63, 105-78
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Maric 8 (8 rebounds), Perperoglou 13, Batiste 2, Logan 9, Sato 2, Calathes P. 7, Diamantidis 8 (9 assists), Vougioukas 4, Calathes N. 14 (5 assists), Smith 15 (5 assists), Kaimakoglou 17, Jasikevicius 6
Rethymnon (Koufos): Christmas 10, Koumoulos 6, Motsenigos 2, Papanikolaou 12, Wright 18, Tsochlas, Kallinikidis 4, Dorkofikis 3, Latovic 3, Petway 11, Dedas 9, Katsares
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