By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Vassilis Spanoulis returned to OAKA for the first time on a EuroLeague game as an opponent coach and put Panathinaikos to the test.
Monaco got the 91-88 road win as Alpha Diallo scored 24 points, tying his career high in the EuroLeague, Jordan Loyd added 15, making clutch plays in the end, Elie Okobo had 14, and Giorgos Papagiannis added 13.
Mike James scored six points but also dished 10 assists.
Kendrick Nunn with 23 points and Matthias Lessort with 22 were the top scorers of Panathinaikos.
Still, the champs couldn’t close the game the right way, dropping to a 7-5 record, while Monaco is tied with Olympiacos and Bayern at 8-4 between the third and the fifth spot of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
A dogfight until the end
In a close game from wire to wire, Monaco got a two-point lead at halftime (50-48). The biggest difference was seven points (40-33) in favor of the guests on a night full of lead changes and ties on the score.
Monaco managed in the third period to get an eight-point advantage (65-57) after a three by Jaron Blossomgame, however, Panathinaikos closed the quarter with a 10-0 run to get the lead back (67-65)
A three by Juancho Hernangomez pushed the lead of Panathinaikos to five (70-65) at the start of the fourth period and the dogfight continued with Panathinaikos entering the last two minutes leading by one (84-83).
Nunn missed a three and Diallo with a dunk put Monaco in the lead (85-84). Lessort got fouled, it was unsportsmanlike, made the two free throws (86-85) and Juancho missed his shot.
With 31 seconds left, Jordan Loyd made a big three, to give Monaco the 88-86 lead. Nunn missed again and Loyd got fouled.
He made two (90-86) and Panathinaikos managed to score with Lessort (90-88) with just three seconds on the clock. Okobo was fouled, made one of two and the game was over.
Photo credit: Eurokinissi