Panathinaikos edged Astana 73-62 in a preseason encounter hosted today at the OAKA arena.
Breaking away from tip-off was somewhat numb. Panathinaikos in what is essentially its third preseason clash, seemed to be trying to establish a pace, one it will be enhanced with game by game. It led 8-2 (4’10’’) Maciulis and Lasme to score 4 points each, Batiste to pick up where they left off to get the score board reading 14-7 (7’40’’), slightly prior to Astana becoming more of a threat to the clover, to tie the battle 14-14 (8’20’’). Second quarter was a much improved one for the Greens as they would prove in action that what they need is time on the floor, awaiting the return of sidelined Roko Leni Ukic and Loukas Mavrokefalidis. Antonis Fotsis added to 24-14 (11’45’’) getting the gap into double digits for the first time in the matchup, a triple unleashed by Ramel Curry to up the ante to +12 right after (34-22, 17’45’’), only for Mike Batiste to take a trip to the charity line to expand the distance amongst opposing teams to a 15 point cushion for the host (39-24, 18’35’’) only for the recess to arrive Jonas Maciulis to make more of a statement than a play: After missing a basket, he was all up on his opponents’ inbound past, interception and a dunk on the rivals’ hoop!
Swift points scored by Lasme and Fotsis, game recommencing and Gist’s contribution next, aided so as for the lead to reach 21 points (50-29, 22’50’’). The Greens seemed to relax in backcourt and Astana made sure to exploit the fact. It pulled a 9-0 run to pick up the trail (50-38, 23’45’’), crept up even closer (53-40, 25’) but correct collaborations provided solutions for Panathinaikos once more main executor of the hour Mike Bramos who would score to 58-40 (26’). The hosted gained on their opponents yet again (58-45, 27’), Curry to join forces with Diamantidis to get their team back up, this time by 18 points (63-45, 29’), third quarter to rest at 63-37. Panathinaikos would break away again by 19 (66-47, 31’40’’), Vladimiros Jankovic to send in triple into validity, Argyris Pedoulakis also pulled Ping Shang off the bench, however Astana found its way to the basket, embarking on a more feisty defense to cut back its deficit to 10 points (68-58, 37’). Diamantidis put an end to his guests’ surge draining a bucket from down town (71-58, 37’20’’), Fotsis to be the culprit of final game score 73-58 (38’20’’).
Referees: Anastopoulos, Gontas, Somos
Quarters: 19-14, 41-27, 63-47, 73-62
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Bramos 10 (2), Curry 7 (1), Batiste 6, Fotsis 12 (2), Lasme 8, Diamantidis 9 (2), Gist 5, Pappas 5 (1), Jankovic 3 (1), Shang, Maciulis 8, Skordilis
Αστάνα (Boniciolli): Johnson 11 (1), Lawal 8, Simon 17 (1), Murzagaliyev, Klimov, Yargaliyew, Rush 8 (2), Cvetkovic 12 (1), Marchuk, Kolesnikov 3, Calathes 3 (1), Blums
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