By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a sold-out Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Crvena Zvezda survived a late thriller against Panathinaikos and beat the Greens (69-67) to improve their chances to qualify to the playoffs. This was the sixth win for the Serbians (6-4), whereas the Greeks suffered their fourth defeat (6-4).
Tarence Kinsey and Quincy Miller scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the winners. On the other hand, Elliot Williams had 17 points for the losing squad, with Miroslav Raduljica adding 11 and seven rebounds.
Panathinaikos made a better start to the game (6-12, 9-16) and managed to take an eight-point advantage at the end of the first quarter (10-18), as the Greens were playing excellent defence.
Later, the visitors were retaining their lead (14-22, 16-25), however the hosts went on a 12-6 run to cut the deficit to just three points, after 20 minutes in the game (28-31).
In the beginning of the second half, Crvena Zvezda took over. Executing perfectly on both ends of the floor, the Serbians made a come-back (36-32, 43-35) and outscored their opponents 25-11 in the third quarter to take a double-digit advantage, after 30 minutes in the game (53-42).
In the fourth quarter, though, things changed. Panathinaikos enhanced their overall performance and went on a 2-14 run to tie the game (55-55), with six minutes to go, as Williams scored consecutive points for Sasa Djordjevic’s team.
In the remaining minutes, the hosts tried to regain control of the game (64-57, thanks to 9-2 run), but the Greeks responded again and were down by one (64-63), with 26 seconds to go. Crvena Zvezda, though, stood tall and secured a crucial victory at home.