Panathinaikos AKTOR prevailed away from home against Maroussi (102-95) for the 19th round of the Stoiximan GBL and extended its unbeaten streak. Kendrick Nunn with 20 points was the top scorer of the night for the greens.
The game started with Maroussi being very accurate from the perimeter and gaining a double-digit lead (21-7 at 5'). Panathinaikos AKTOR pressed more on defense in the minutes that followed, but the accuracy of the home team from the perimeter allowed them to reach +16 (32-16 at 9') before the counterattack began.
Ergin Ataman's players managed to reduce the difference to five points (32-27 at 12') within three minutes of the game and shortly afterwards bring the game to "X" (40-40 at 16'). The first half ended with the greens leading by two points (52-54).
Panathinaikos AKTOR maintained the lead until halfway through the third period (58-61 at 25'), before Maroussi's mini-run came to give it -after time- the upper hand in the game (71-66 at 29').
As time passed, the greens improved their percentages and -with the lead constantly changing hands- managed to build their self-confidence. The "X" (81-81) in the 35th minute became +3 (89-92) in the 38th minute of the match, which ended with Panathinaikos AKTOR reaching the final victory for the 19/19 in Stoiximan GBL.
QUARTERS: 32-20, 52-54, 73-69, 95-102.
MAROUSSI (Takianos): Reynolds 14 (4), Fridriksson 16 (2), Keene 29 (5), Langevine 2, Mantzoukas 15 (3), Floyd, Briggs 4, Nikolaidis 3 (1), Giannopoulos 8 (2), Tanoulis 2.
PANATHINAIKOS AKTOR (Ataman): Brown, Osman 3 (1), Nunn 21 (3), Gabriel 9, Hernangomez 16 (4), Kalaitzakis 15 (3), Moraitis 8 (2), Sloukas 13 (3), Samodurov 2, Mitoglou 15.
Ataman: "We found a way to win"
Here is what Ergin Ataman said right after the end of the game:
"With the exception of the first quarter, where our team started very relaxed and without concentration, resulting in us being -17, I liked the game. After that, we played well. Maroussi is a good offensive team, we knew it. Fridriksson, Keene, Reynolds have a lot of talent. We found a way to win. Of course, it is not easy for EuroLeague teams to play such matches in less than 48 hours. Overall, I am satisfied with the results because we are the only EuroLeague team that remains undefeated in the domestic championship. I also think that in the last quarter we played very good basketball".
Asked about Omer Yurtseven, he said: "I don’t think he will be ready for Real Madrid. I hope he will be ready for the game against Olympiacos. Now the running has started. We have Tibor Pleiss, who came to help us. 90% (Omer Yurceven) will not play".
