Apollon Patras- Panathinaikos 53-68
Panathiniakos does it again, beating Apollon Patras in OAKA Stadium and won the Cup for 4th consecutive season. Coach Ivanovic’s team started the game taking advantage of their opponent’s inexperience in big games such as this, running a 9-0 run after 4 minutes. When Apollon tried to recover, their defense behind the arc did not help them, giving Panathinaikos some easy shots to a 12-21 lead. The second period belonged to the “Greens” who did not play
at their best but held back their opponents quite easily, since Fitzpatrick was the only one actually making any impact on the game. The halftime score was 20-39 with the typically home side making only 1/14 three-pointers.
All Panathinaikos had to do was to keep a safe distance and they achieved against a team that seemed to have given up, 29-48, 5 minutes after the restart. Diamantidis made his way to the bench but nothing really changed and the 30’ mark found the point margin to 26, 31-57. The shots started falling for the defeated team but it was too late now, at least the 4 consecutive made shots brought them a little bit closer and added to their scoreline, managing to prevent a negative record. For the remaining minutes we saw in the game many young players who earned a round of applause in the end.
This was the 16th cup they won, which will stand next to the rest 56 trophies the team has. Diamantidis was crucial for his team since the captain scored 13 points but contributed a lot on defense. However the best player on the court was Fitzpatrick who recorded a double-double (19 points and 11 rebounds).
