Maccabi Electra levelled the quarter-final five-game series with Panathinaikos at one game each after a 94-92 overtime win in Athens.
Keith Langford paced the winners with 17 points, but it was David Blu who emerged as the hero of the night as he hit two three-pointers to win it for the visitors. One of those triples was the game winner as he hit with 29.8 seconds left, the hosts had two final possessions but were held at bay.
Blu, himself had 16 points but more importantly, he has given Maccabi the advantage as the series now moves to the hostile Nokia Arena in Tel-Aviv.
Panathinaikos had led for the majority of the first half, despite a few lead changes, the hosts controlled the pace of the contest. But a 9-0 Maccabi run in the third quarter, led by Yogev Ohayon put them in the driving seat at 61-54 and the visitors kept the lead headed to the final quarter (61-58).
The Greens fought back in the final ten minutes to take it to overtime but Maccabi sunk their shots when it mattered in extra time to seal a precious away victory.
Kostas Kaimakoglou led Panathinakos with 20 points.
“Call it inspiration or whatever. We played a tactical game and it worked,” Maccabi coach David Blatt said afterwards.
“We tied the series, but this doesn’t mean anything yet. We have to go back and see what we can do against a great team and a great coach.”
Barca, one win away from Istanbul.
Barcelona have gone 2-0 up in their quarter-final series with Unics Kazan following a 66-63 victory.
Led by Juan Carlos Navarro’s 18 points, the hosts are now one win away from a second trip to the Final Four in three seasons. But they were made to work hard for this win though, the key moment being when Kosta Perovic sunk two clutch free throws with 48.6 seconds remaining to give Barca a 63-61 lead and despite Unics’ best efforts, they couldn’t pull it back.
Nathan Jawai led Unics Kazan with a game-high 20 points.
