By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Nemanja Nedovic connected a clutch three-pointer before fouling out to send Panathinaikos OPAP over arch-rival Olympiacos, 81-76, Monday evening.
Nedovic, 30, sinking the big shot shaped the 76-72 lead with 1:42 remaining. He fouled out during the next play on the opposite end of the court finishing with a game-high 24 points behind 8/12 field goals, including 4/8 triples.
The Stoiximan Basket League Regular Season Round 8 contest was mainly a game of runs with the eternal enemies exchanging blows. The Reds peaking at a 14-point advantage following a 26-6 sprint in the third quarter was met by the visitors making seven three-pointers in the fourth quarter at Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus. The deciding momentum shift featured Panathinaikos outscoring its rival, 33-17, in the last ten minutes.
Captain and former Olympiacos forward, Ioannis Papapetrou threw in 13 more points for the winning side. He switched sides before the 2018-19 season, during which his previous team infamously withdrew from the Greek Cup matchup and went on to be relegated from the top-tier division of the country. It had been exactly 1,100 days since the last complete domestic meeting of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
Leonidas Kaselakis had 11 points for the team coached by Dimitris Priftis. Labeled questionable with a left calf injury, Howard Sant-Roos finished with ten points. Unregistered in the Basket League due to the foreign player limit, Yogi Ferrell and Jehyve Floyd sat out.
Sasha Vezenkov posted a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the losing effort. Teammate Moustapha Fall had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double. Quincy Acy was sidelined.
Both Greek representatives in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague are now 6-1 at the domestic level. Promitheas at 6-2 holds the lead on the points-based system.
Panathinaikos, 2-9, in EuroLeague, hosts Zenit Saint-Petersburg on Thursday. Currently, at 7-4, Giorgos Bartzokas’ players will take on AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milano one day later in another Round 12 fixture.