By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Playing with four fouls for most of the fourth quarter and overtime, Dwayne Bacon refused to accept defeat and instead lifted Panathinaikos to the overtime win, 90-77, over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Thursday.
Bacon, 27, dropped six points in the fourth period and seven in the extra five minutes for a season personal best 31 points. Limited to 2/8 three-pointers, the first make fueled the last-ditch comeback bid in crunch time and the second got a safe distance in the overtime of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 12 contest. The Florida State product scored at least 12 points and one three-pointer for the 11th consecutive outing in Europe’s top-tier club continental competition.
“We kept fighting. Like I said even before I got here, these guys can play. We just keep finding ways,” was his immediate reaction following the exciting action in OAKA Altion, “It is a long season. Throughout the whole season, we got to keep finding ways. It’s going to be different guys every night.”
Struggling to avoid mental missteps on key plays without floor general Nate Wolters (virus infection), relentless Bacon penetrating produced plenty of offense and kept things interesting, in spite of the visitors presenting a 15-point lead late in the third period. Rallying behind improved defense was the main reason for jumping to 6-6. The Little Red Shoes from Milan scored only 18 points in the last ten minutes of regulation and the extra period.
Apart from the leading scorer, Paris Lee reset his own season-high to 22 points, including nine in overtime as Panathinaikos pulled away. “Honestly, I think the fans gave us the extra push. They were loud, even though we were down by 15 at one point,” the former Illinois State standout described another huge part of the comeback win, “It ignited us and helped us a lot in defense for sure.”
“We are in a good momentum at this point,” Mateusz Ponitka told Eurohoops after putting in eight points and nine rebounds.
“We played better defense in the second half. Our defense was very good in overtime as well. In offense, we did some good things and scored some tough shots. Very very big win,” added head coach Dejan Radonjic following the fourth win in a row. Besides Wolters entering the injury list, Marius Grigonis (back) stayed. In addition, Lefteris Bochoridis rolled his ankle with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter and did not return.
Frustration on the opposite end as the Milan outfit fell to 3-9 with an eighth straight loss. Nicolo Melli was making things happen in defense and stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists, six rebounds, and four steals but to no avail.
“Down the stretch, our decisions in offense killed us,” losing head coach Ettore Messina summed up his team’s effort, “Unfortunately, it is happening all the time. I think we played a very good game for 37-38 minutes and then, down the stretch, we threw away everything.”
Naz Mitrou-Long packed 16 points and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 15 points in the losing effort. Kevin Pangos (right knee), Shavon Shields (left foot), Luigi Datome (virus infection), and Stefano Tonut (thigh) all remained sidelined along with Paul Biligha.
Next games
Eager to bounce back in Greece’s Basket League after losing to rival Olympiacos and falling to 5-2, the Greens will play host to AEK Sunday. Shifting into EuroLeague’s next double-game week brings up visits to Valencia Tuesday and FC Barcelona Friday.
The reigning champions of Italy will be seeking a 9-1 start in LBA Serie A at home against UnaHotels Reggio Emilia Sunday. From there, the home fixture opposite Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv Tuesday and the away fixture opposite Crvena Zvezda mts Thursday.