By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda mts dug its way out of an 11-point hole to defeat Panathinaikos OPAP, 86-82, on Friday.
Jordan Loyd poured 16 points in the final quarter, including a three-point dagger with 47 seconds remaining. The Chicago-born guard ended up with 27 points alongside five assists, four rebounds, and one steal in Athens.
“It really wasn’t me, it was my teammates,” mentioned the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 30 contest top performer, “They got me in the right spots, coach trusted me and I have to give credit to both, the coaches and my teammates, so I’m happy with the outcome.”
Corey Walden registered 14 points, eight in the third period. Former Panathinaikos center, Ognjen Kuzmic added nine points and five rebounds.
The Greens distanced themselves, 59-48, but suffered an 18-0 run, which included head coach Oded Kattash being ejected due to complaints towards the officials.
The hosts falling to 10-18 without injured Nemanja Nedovic had Howard Sant-Roos scoring a personal-best 21 points and tying a team record seven steals. His triple knotted the game at 79-79 prior to Loyd’s clincher.
“The second half was up and down for both sides. They had a run of 15-0, after that we did good things on the court,” summed up Dejan Radonjic, “In the fourth quarter we had also a good start and offensively it was a good end for our side. Overall, I am very satisfied with how we played the whole game.”
Mario Hezonja went for 15 points producing 13 points in the second half. Ioannis Papapetrou and Georgios Papagiannis finished with 14 points apiece.
“We are not looking for excuses, but we are looking for ways to improve,” noted Papapetrou, “We made some important mistakes for our level. We tried to come back, but we did not succeed. It is an unpredictable season. We are a little more upset because it is a special day for the club. We would like to be able to dedicate a victory to Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos, who passed away two years ago, but we did not succeed. That saddens us a little more.”
Radonjic’s side improving to 9-21 all but added its opponents to the teams officially eliminated from the playoffs.