Olympiacos and Fenerbahce both secured away wins in hostile environments on Friday evening with the former booking their ticket into the EuroLeague playoffs.
They were pegged back in the fourth, but Olympiacos eventually got the better of Panathinaikos 87-85 after a session of overtime inside the OAKA.
In control heading into the final period, leading 62-50, Olympiacos were then held to just nine points in a frantic last ten minutes, which incredibly saw Panathinaikos have the final possession and the chance to bag an unlikely win, but Mike James lost his handle leading to overtime, and from there, the visitors hung on to a win and a place in the post-season.
Brian Roberts paced Olympiacos with 18 points, cancelling out Nick Calathes’ effort of 23 points and 10 steals for the hosts.
EuroLeague holders Fenerbahce are within touching distance of the playoffs after they grabbed a huge 86-83 win at Real Madrid with a big assist to Greek point guard Kostas Sloukas.
The veteran scored all 20 points in the second half as he turned a 45-40 deficit into a third quarter lead, and despite pressure from the Spanish giants, the holders clung on.
Luigi Datome added 17 points for the winners.
Crvena Zvezda kept its playoff dreams alive with a narrow 80-76 win over Unicaja Malaga in Belgrade.
In a game, overshadowed by the other two games between established European powerhouses, the two sides put together a match worthy of note, with the Serbs maintaining their advantage in the fourth, where they led by ten points heading into it, despite pressure from Unicaja.
Taylor Rochestie poured in 21 points to lead the winners, but they stay in tenth, with the same record as Malaga.
