Panathinaikos cashed in on a better second half performance to win Panelefsiniakos on the road, behind final score 59-77, for Basket League OPAP game 20.
Panelefsiniakos managed to take Panathinaikos by surprise for first quarter. Initial 0-4 (1’10’’), became 12-4 (5’22’’) behind a 12-0 run for the home team, who exploited to its greatest level good long haul range, while also winning battles close to the baskets; great strong point, their tough defense to lead the Greens to commit 9 turnovers through the first half of the encounter. The clover ended up chasing in the clash but swiftly returned behind team captain Dimitris Diamantidis, who was exceptionally valid from beyond the arc. Panathinaikos ran a partial 12-1score to form 13-16 (8’10’’). It had to wait though just prior to first half buzzer in order to create a 6 point cushion (28-34, 17’10’’); and all this when earlier Panelefsiniakos had managed to regain the game reigns on yet another occasion. 26-23 (13’), turned into 28-34 (17’) off a new Panathinaikos counteraction to run an 11-2 streak, also aided by its fans’ support from the stands.
Third quarter had Panathinaikos’ seal only. Improved defense, personal game pace, dominance in rebounding (25-12 in first half), while it also established the collaborations it was seeking in offense. Diamantidis kept getting game by making his shots from down town (6-for-7 at 22’42’’), the gap to expand to 19 points (39-58, 28’32’’) and then, during fourth quarter to 21 (47-68 at 33’, 49-70 at 33’40’’). Home team managed to pick up the trail to get within 13 points of its opponent (57-70, 35’45’’) but the Greens manage to climbed back up to +20 (57-77, 39’) praise to a bucket from Charis Giannopoulos, only for curtains to fall on the floor, final score 59-77.
Referees: Afendoulidis, Kaldiris, Andrikopoulos
Quarters: 18-19, 33-39, 33-39, 59-77
Panelefsiniakos (Skarafigas): Nikou 5, Papanikolopoulos 7, Papanikolaou 2, Dimakos 3, Gibson, Magounis 15, Liakopoulos 3, Deligiannis, Tsiakos 4, Mantzioris 2, Avramidis 4, Eziukwu 14
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Schortsanitis 5, Bramos, Maciulis 9, Ukic 5, LAsme 4, Tsartsaris 3, Diamantidis 20 (6-for-8 threes), Gist 13, Banks 5, Xanthopoulos 6 (10as), Giannopoulos 7, Skordilis
Panathinaikos honoring
Panelefsiniakos honored Panathinaikos prior to tip-off. The Elefsina Mayor, Giorgos Tsoukalas and the team President, Giannis Filippou honored the clover for all its achievements and for maintaining Greek basketball at a high level over many years. They offered Vice President, Manos Papadopoulos and the Team Manager Frangiskos Alvertis a silver replica of a 5th century ancient sculpture “Fevgousa Kori” (the leaving daughter), the original to be found in Elefsina’s Archaeological Museum and a two-volume book on the city’s history.
Press Conference
Argyris Pedoulakis stated at the Press Conference: “During the first half we were not focused and up to a certain extent this is logical given the day, but also due to continuous competitive obligations. A basic element in getting the win was defense. We enforced pressure in that department and made the difference which allowed us to win. As long as we were mature in defense and focused we had no issue. Congratulations to Panelefsiniakos and all the best next”.
Girogos Skarafigas, Panelefsiniakos Head Coach stated: “It was a no-stress game for us; we wanted to fight at it, to have as much fun possible. We lost rebound control, in the third quarter we were trapped in the set game and we failed to get to uncontested plays. The league recess played its part in us not being able to maintain a high level of performance”.
Mike Bramos stressed: “It was a tough game. Panelefsiniakos played tough. It was an entirely different game for us in the second half however. We played better defense, got to more uncontested shots. It was overall a tough game, which took place in a good atmosphere and we now look towards the game versus Real Madrid”.
Callistus Eziukwu added: “We had issues in rebounds and Panathinaikos exploited second chance offenses. It is tough to score against a team such as Panathinaikos, the best team in Europe. We failed to run as we would have aspired to”.
