By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The arrival of head coach Dejan Radonjic bolstered Crvena Zvezda that ends the year on a positive note, after defeating Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 74-71 at home in Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
“Before the game, it was, for me, most important to play better than the last game, especially, but we played much better. Then in the first half, we had quite good offense and made a lot of shots with good defense, too, but in the second half, we missed a lot. We made some mistakes offensively and our defense was good, I can say and in the end, in this moment, it is a very, very important win”, said Radonjic upon his first victory after his return to Zvezda.
Ioannis Papapetrou stepped up big time for the visitors to even the score at 68 points with just a minute to go, though Zvezda did not allow the Greens to spoil their last game of the year despite the nerve-wracking finale. The hosts moved up to a 6-11 record in the EuroLeague standings, recovering from last week’s defeat and COVID-19 woes, even though the team’s leading scorer Jordan Loyd remained sidelined for one more game.
Corey Walden led all scorers of the Serbian side with 17 points and 5 assists. “We haven’t smiled in a while. Again, not the prettiest, but I really don’t give a damn. We needed it“, he said after the game.
Quino Colom and Ognjen Dobric also finished the game in double figures, posting 13 and 11 points each, with Colom having a key contribution in the final quarter.
The Greens slipped further down the standings with a 5-11 record with their second consecutive defeat, despite Papapetrou’s clutch-like performance in the fourth quarter, as he finished the game with 20 points. Nemanja Nedovic followed with 16 points and 4 assists for Giorgos Vovoras’ squad.
Photo: EuroLeague