Panathinaikos ended Anadolu Efes’ seven-game win streak with a 75-62 win in-front of 16,000 strong at the OAKA in Athens.
The Turkish side however have the head-to-head advantage having won the earlier fixture by 14 points in Istanbul but as Anadolu Efes and Panathinaikos sit in second and third place, respectively, they both look in good shape to advance to the last eight. The Greens improve to 6-3 while Anadolu are now at 7-2.
The game was intense, both sides couldn’t seem to break away until the hosts hit 16 unanswered points in the final quarter to seal the win. Dimritis Diamantidis and Roko Ukic led the Greek side with 13 points each, the latter being the main catalyst for the game-winning 16-0 run.
Despite the victory, Panathinaikos coach Argiris Pedoulakis knows that there is still a lot of work still to be done.
“The situation in the group is still open,” he admitted. “As we said from the beginning, this is a long journey, the very first for some of our players. Our goal is to improve our game every night, to remain competitive and to come through in must-win situations.”
Dusko Savanovic led all scorers for Anadolu Efes with 21 points.
{youtube}PTfrharmUN4{/youtube}
In the other two Group E encounters, CSKA Moscow comfortably defeated Alba Berlin 80-65 in the Russian capital.
Nenad Krstic had 20 points and four assists as CSKA outclassed their German counterparts in a thoroughly professional performance. The Russian heavyweights improve to 6-3 while Berlin are all but out as they drop to 1-8.
“It was a must-win for us, we had to protect our home court,” Krstic said afterwards.
“We have two more games at home in which the team needs to be successful to qualify for the next round. There were bad moments in the game for us, but CSKA played well during the whole game today.”
{youtube}BLYeWmFoG4c{/youtube}
Zalgiris Kaunas joined Unicaja Malaga on 4-5 records as they defeated the Spaniards 83-67 on the Costa del Sol.
The visitors drained 11 three-pointers in the contest as Mindaugas Kuzminskas led the Lithuanians with 15 points – and with that – they rejoin the race to reach the last eight.
Malaga were led by 13 points by Krunoslav Simon.
{youtube}F5wGVhA8IG0{/youtube}
