By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After three Turkish Airlines EuroLeague losses in a row, Panathinaikos OPAP rolled FC Bayern Munich, 80-67, to get back on the win column and start a double-game week Tuesday night.
Cuban Howard Sant-Roos recorded 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals, one assist, and one block for a staggering 29 PIR. He made 5/6 field goals and 6/6 from the free-throw line. “It feels amazing. Thank God we had a win, especially after what happened last week against Olympiacos,” he commented on his side bouncing back from the Regular Season Round 30 loss to archrival Olympiacos.
Arkansas product Daryl Macon Jr. banked in a game-high 18 points. Okaro White scored ten of his 16 points in the first quarter and Serbian star Nemanja Nedovic put in nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Despite missing Ioannis Papapetrou (nose), Stefan Jovic (thigh), and Lefteris Bochoridis (wrist), the Greens never trailed in the Regular Season Round 31 contest. Reclaiming a double-digit advantage during the third quarter did not knock out Bayern. The double-digit lead in the fourth did the trick, improved the 2021-22 W-L tally to 7-17, and the overall home record against the German club to 5-0.
“I’m very happy because we insisted and deserved to win today,” noted head coach Dimitris Priftis, “The guys deserved to win. We have a lot of problems but it’s good that we won today, we needed that.”
“I think we should keep going like this and everything will be alright,” added Macon, “Things happen in basketball, you have ups and downs, people get injured and sick. It’s next guy up, all 10 guys, 12 guys, however many we have. Everybody has to be ready when your number is called.”
Heading to Athens, Andrea Trinchieri’s side returned to action after remaining idle the last couple of weeks due to multiple COVID-19 cases within the team. Corey Walden was sidelined along with Nick Weiler-Babb (head).
“This was the first game after 20 days of COVID and I expected a bad game, exactly like this,” mentioned the Italian tactician, “But at least I would like to have a better effort from some of my players.”
Darrun Hilliard tallied 15 points, while Augustine Rubit paired 13 points with eight rebounds in the losing effort. Former Panathinaikos player DeShaun Thomas back to OAKA Altion logged 12 points as his side was forced down to 12-11.
On a positive note, former NBA forward Paul Zipser recovering from brain surgery played his first EuroLeague game since last season’s Playoffs, after making his way to three easyCredit BBL contests prior to the COVID-19 crisis. He missed his only shot in two minutes.