By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kostas Sloukas scored 18 points and dished out a career-high 12 assists as Panathinaikos Athens bounced back to EuroLeague wins by beating struggler ASVEL Villeurbanne 89 – 81 on the road.
Sloukas’ assist that broke his record was a pass to Marius Grigonis for the 3-point dagger that pretty much secured the victory of Panathinaikos. The Lithuanian wing hit a corner three to make it 87 – 79 with 20 seconds to play, en route to finishing with a team-high 19 points.
“We knew that they hustle, they play tough here,” Sloukas said. His team moved to 7 – 7 “For us, it was a ‘Final’ because we lost in the last three games. We had to react. Especially me, I played two bad games and I had to also react.”
ASVEL had tied the game twice in the fourth period after trailing by even 16 points in the first half. With the score square at 71 and six minutes to play, Panathinaikos found some big shots with two triples by Grigonis, one by Sloukas and another courtesy of Dinos Mitoglou to rebuild a lead beyond a shooting distance. In the meantime, Kostas Antetokoumpo, a former ASVEL player, provided some key defensive plays, including two huge blocks.
“ASVEL is a dangerous team, they never give up,” Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman said. “Tonight we missed 11 free throws. We played great on offense and we moved the ball. Defensively, Id like to say we had a great contribution by Kostas Antetokounmpo. He gave us what we needed to protect the paint.”
“Big win for us because we know it’s difficult to win here,” said Mitoglou after posting 16 points and 11 rebounds. “We need to keep building.”
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot led ASVEL with 17 points before he got ejected with his fifth foul with 1:13 to play. Youssoupha Fall had 13 points plus five rebounds and Joffrey Lauvergne added 10 points plus 11 boards.
“What are we talking about?” wondered ASVEL coach Gianmarco Pozzecco in the post-game flash interview, frustrated after his team’s sixth straight loss that dropped them at 2-10. “There’s nothing to talk.”