In one of basketball’s biggest rivalries, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens ruled the glass and had a perfect night from the free throw line to take a 77-88 road win over archrival Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday night.
The Greens registered its fourth win in the last six games to improve to 9-14, while Olympiacos lost its fourth straight to drop to 11-13. Panathinaikos took the lead for good with a 0-13 first quarter run, and used its offensive rebounding and baskets from Eleftherios Bochoridis to remain in front.
Howard Sant-Roos helped the Greens pulled away to a 13-point margin in the third quarter, and despite Olympiacos repeatedly threatening to come back behind Shaquielle McKissic, Panathinaikos used key baskets from Konstantinos Mitoglou and a calm hand from the free throw line to pull out the victory. Sant-Roos paced Panathinaikos with 20 points and 5 assists, while Mitoglou and Bochoridis scored 15 apiece.
Aaron White collected 12 points plus 7 rebounds, and Ben Bentil scored 10 in a winning effort for the Greens who were without top scorer Nemanja Nedovic. McKissic netted 20 points for the hosts, and Hassan Martin scored 11.
PHOTOS
