Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz-Panathinaikos BC Superfoods 63-72

In a battle of playoff-bound teams hoping to snatch home-court advantage, Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens went on the road to lead from tip to buzzer in beating Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz 63-72 on Thursday night. The victory improved Panathinaikos’s record to 17-11, which is the same as fourth-place Fenerbahce Istanbul, but Fenerbahce has the tiebreak advantage. The victory also gave Panathinaikos a season-sweep of Baskonia, which dropped to 16-12 and seventh place. Panathinaikos had a dream start, not allowing Baskonia to get into any offensive rhythm. The Greens needed no time to open a double-digit margin and their lead was as big as 22 points in the third quarter, before Baskonia attempted a late charge, but never really threatened. Chris Singleton was all over the place for the winner with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. James Gist and Mike James scored 11 points apiece for Panathinaikos, while Nick Calathes collected 8 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Adam Hanga finished the game with 13 points, Johannes Voigtmann collected 12 points plus 7 rebounds, while Chase Budinger scored 11 in the losing effort.