By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Connecting 14/28 from beyond the arc, Panathinaikos OPAP rocked Larissa, 89-43, to win the best-of-five series 3-2 Wednesday.
Okaro White packed 17 points behind 6/6 field goals and Nemanja Nedovic with 16 points of his own starred in Stoiximan Basket League Semifinals Game 5. Daryl Macon Jr. followed with 14 points. Vassilis Kavvadas and Stefan Jovic remained sidelined.
The team coached by Fotis Takianos was unable to mount a challenge for the hosts. Trailing badly from the start, it fell on the wrong end of the one-sided affair. Ousman Krubally recorded a team-high 11 points. Looking ahead, Larissa is projected to debut in the Basketball Champions League next season.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos made a brief appearance in OAKA Altion Arena for the first time since publicly making known his intention to sell the team two years ago. Unfriendly chants stemming from some fans led to his departure midway through the second period. Also in attendance was the Greek national team head coach Dimitris Itoudis.
Losing Game 2 and Game 4 on the road, the Greens went the distance but comfortably became the seventh team to prevail as one half of the ninth Semifinals Game 5 in the history of the Greek league.
The team coached by Giorgos Vovoras will now move on to face archrival and top-seeded Olympiacos in a best-of-five series for the championship. Larissa’s solid campaign will conclude in a series opposite Promitheas for the third spot in the final rankings of the 2021-22 season.
Playoff action will resume over the weekend.