By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
In the clash between the two teams with the longest losing streak in EuroLeague, Fenerbahce Beko beat Panathinaikos Athens 99 – 84 on the road in overtime to bounce back to victories after a five consecutive defeats. While Fener improved to 11 – 7, PAO dropped to a league-worst 6-12.
Nigel Hayes-Davis scored a career-high-tying 24 points (also his season-best) and dropped 10 of them in overtime. He had five straight points to put the Turkish side up 85 – 90 with 1:03 remaining and then also scored to make it 87 – 92.
“We give credit to the team,” Hayes-Davis said. “We didn’t execute tremendously. It shouldn’t have gone to overtime. We followed the scouting, but the one mistake we kept making over and over was offensive rebounds. Primarily Ponitka, he single-handedly kept them in the game and had a chance to win it at the end.”
Panathinaikos didn’t manage to erase that margin. The Greens, that registered a new club record 26 offensive rebounds, had the opportunity to win the game in regulation but Dwayne Bacon missed a jumper and then Mateusz Ponitka didn’t manage to sink the ball in after an offensive rebound. Ponitka was visibly fouled by Devin Booker in a steal attempt with five seconds left in the fourth quarter and just before the final possession but the referees didn’t call it and just gave the ball out of bounds for the hosts.
Bacon and Ponitka delivered two of their best games in the Panathinaikos jersey. The first had 27 points on 9-16 from the field while Ponitka produced 14 points and 12 rebounds, including a career-high 10 on offense.
Marko Guduric scored 14 points and had five assists, while scoring game-tying triple with 24 seconds to play in the fourth period, in a basket that Hays-Davis described as “Reggie Miller-esque.” Carsen Edwards added 14 points of his own, including 12 in the fourth quarter which Fener entered down 51-59.