Neither the absences, neither the turnovers were able to stop Panathinaikos. The Greens competed in Italy having Schortsanitis, Skordilis, Panko sidelined, Ukic and Tsartsaris recovering from injuries but still were able to prevail over Mapooro Cantu by 71-69 in THY Euroleague game 7. Team work in backcourt and in rebounding but also Mike Bramos’ outstanding performance behind 7-for-9 threes and 9 boards sealed the win.
Dimitris Diamantidis headed first out on court (0-3, 20’’), but then Mapooro Cantu scored all the way up to 8-3 (2’40’’). Panathinaikos did not take its time to input an answer (8-8, 4’10’’), first quarter to rest at 15-19. The clover behind a Diamantidis trifecta got to 21-25 (13’), the hosts however exploited their guests’ every mistake to gain the lead once more (32-30, 18’16’’), first half of the game ending with opponents tied (34-34).
Mapooro Cantu got to a 5 point spread in the third quarter (42-37, 22’40’’) behind an 8-0 run, but Panathinaikos’ aggressiveness was the ideal counteraction for the turnovers result being it to regain pole position on the floor (47-45, 27’) and then to a 4 point lead (50-54) at the end of the third quarter. Things seemed to tip towards the Italians’ side of the court when they got to a 5 point cushion once again (59-54, 34’30’’) and even more to +6 slightly later (66-60, 36’50’’).A Bramos triple + one off the captain swiftly shifted matters as far as the game’s image (66-66, 37’50’’). Lasme’s defensive board plus a two drilled by the aforementioned, 1’25’’ pending on the clock, got the score board reading 66-68, Mapooro Cantu managed to even things out once more (68-68, 39’), only for Mike Bramos to send the Green game into overdrive draining his seventh triple in the clash to 68-71 (39’15’’), curtains to fall behind final 69-71. Amongst the positives, Marcus Banks’ performance in his first presence wearing the Panathinaikos’ jersey.
Referees: Ryzhyk (UKR), Biricik (TUR), Juras (SRB)
Quarters: 15-19, 34-34, 50-54, 69-71
Mapooro Cantu (Trinkieri): Kudlacek, Markoishvili 5, Leunen 11, Mazzarino, Brooks 6, Tyus 18, Tabu 17, Aradori 10, Cuzin 2
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Bramos 21 (7/9threes, 9rbs), Maciulis 6 (6rbs), Armstrong 1, Ukic 7, Lasme 7 (6rbs), Tsartsaris 3, Diamantidis 15 (7as), Kitchen 2, Banks 9
