Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade took a hard-fought victory by overcoming Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 82-86 on Friday night. The visitors trailed by double-digits, 59-48, after halftime but fired back with an overwhelming 0-18 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to take the lead for good. Even though Panathinaikos then reacted and came within one point, 65-66, Jordan Loyd took over to score 16 points in the last 6 minutes to help his team get its second straight win and improve to 9-21. Loyd paced the winners with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists for a PIR of 30, followed by Corey Walden, who scored 14 points. Panathinaikos, whose record dropped to 10-18, was led Howard Sant-Roos, who registered career-highs both in points (21) and steals (7). Mario Hezonja followed him with 15 points, as Ioannis Papapetrou and Georgios Papagiannis scored 14 apiece in a losing effort.
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