In a tense drama that only a derby between such great rivals can produce, Olympiacos Piraeus secured a place in the playoffs by edging Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens on the road after overtime 85-87 on Friday in the Greek capital. Olympiacos improved to a 17-7 record, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague's second best, while Panathinaikos dropped to 14-10 in a share of fifth place. Olympiacos opened a double-digit lead in the second quarter and was still up by 10 midway through the fourth when Nick Calathes fueled a Panathinaikos rally that sent the game to overtime. In the extra session, the teams traded buckets before Brian Roberts nailed a triple with 64 seconds to go to give the visitors the lead for good. Roberts finished with 18 points, shooting 4-for-4 from three-point range. Vassilis Spanoulis scored 15 points for Olympiacos, as did Georgios Printezis, who moved into ninth place on the all-time scoring charts with 2,507 points. Ioannis Papapetrou scored 11 in victory. Nick Calathes had 23 points and 10 assists for the hosts while James Gist stood out with 21 points and 6 rebounds and Chris Singleton collected 13 points plus 8 rebounds in the losing effort.
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