By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After a slow start, Olimpia Milano managed to turn the tables against Panathinaikos OPAP and secure a 76-75 road win, although the Greens put on a solid comeback effort in the final few minutes.
With this win, Milano improved to 16-6, chasing the second spot in the standings behind Real Madrid (16-5), while Panathinaikos now holds a 6-16 record.
PAO had a 7-0 start but Milano was slowly and surely taking over control, being up 40-36 at halftime and by a 12-point margin in the fourth quarter (69-57). However, before celebrating they had to hold off the home team’s late surge.
In fact, Panathinaikos made a full comeback and Nemanja Nedovic tied the game with 25 seconds remaining after stealing the ball from Sergio Rodriguez and making the layup.
The game was close to overtime after Milano missed the following shot but Hines grabbed an offensive rebound in the final second and got fouled in the process, scoring the first free throw and missing the second, leaving no time for PAO to try and respond.
“After a bad start, I think we had a very good second quarter and a very good third quarter. It is not easy to play here after Panathinaikos lost two days ago, so they surely wanted to shorw their character, as they did,” Milano coach Ettore Messina said and praised Kyle Hines for the game-winning rebound.
Malcolm Delaney led the initial recovery of the Italian team and finished with 15 points while Kyle Hines scored 13 and Giampaolo Ricci ten points. Delaney grabbed six and Hines eight rebounds.
For the losing side, Nemanja Nedovic had 19 points followed by Georgios Papagiannis and Okaro White with 11 each.