Panathinaikos will be attending the Greek Cup final, on the 10th of February for the 9th consecutive time. There were for the sixth time it will be facing Olympiakos. The ticket was sealed behind the victory in the tourney’s semis across from KAOD by 66-56 at the OAKA indoor arena.
A game of quite a few turnovers (17 for both teams) and poor two point shooting range (1-for-17 for KAOD, 10-for-22 for Panathinaikos) was the first half performance. Panathinaikos was the better opponent but as it had in the Greek League game, the team from Drama fought at every play. Result was both teams to be unable to break away from each other.
The Greens led (8-4 at 7’36’’ and 14-8 at 8’50’’) and during the second quarter tried to pick up their pace, but KAOD continued behind tough defense and valid three point shots (5-for-10 in the first half) element to keep it alive in the game although in the same period of time it was competing behind 1-for-17 two-pointers!
Panathinaikos mounted a 14 point lead in the second half (37-23), Marcus Banks to beat the game clock. Slightly earlier at 17’48’’of the clash, Dimitris Diamantidis was leaving the floor, seeming to be experiencing pain in his inner thigh and at half-time left OAKA, in order to undergo medical examinations.
Panathinaikos tried to find solutions in the second half, it maintained the gap at double digits up to 24’2’0’’ (42-29), KAOD to perform its counteraction. It picked up the trail to a 4 point gap (47-43, 29’15’’),gap which remained the same all the way down to third quarter end (49-45). The hosts managed to get within 3 points (51-48, 31’30’’) but the clover answered all the way back to a 9-0 run (60-48, 34’30’’), essentially giving an end to the game and the matter of qualification sealed behind final 66-56 score. And two Panathinaikos players to leave the court behind double-doubles: Bramos and his 14 points + 12 rebounds and Lasme with his 12 points + 10 rebounds.
Referees: Afentoulidis, Psarianos, Theonas
Quarters: 17-13, 37-23, 49-45, 66-56
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis):Xanthopoulos, Giannopoulos, Bramos 14 (12rbs), Maciulis 7, Kapono 10, Ukic 5, Lasme 14 (10rbs), Tsartsaris 4 (9rbs, 3as), Diamantidis 5, Skordilis, Banks 7
KAOD (Kalafatakis):Slaftsakis, Kalaitzidis 8, Akepsimaidis, Borovnjak, Michel 4, Bavcic 10, Kakaroudis 15, Dale 2, Zaras 11, Ioannou 6, Palmer
