By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Sylvain Francisco scored a game-high 24 points including the 3-point dagger, and dished out five assists as Peristeri beat Panathinaikos 76 – 71 in Game 4 of the Greek League semifinals to force the knockout Game 5 battle.
“We’re fighting against Panathinaikos and the referees,” Francisco said in his post-game comments to the Greek national television. “It’s crazy that we have a Game 5 against a EuroLeague team. We’re going to have to work a lot more over there because it’s going to be hard.” Aleksa Radanov had 15 points and Miro Bilan contributed 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds to Perister’s win.
With 1:14 to play and the score 69 – 67 after a 2-10 run by Panathinaikos, Francisco drained a triple to put his team up by five. Miro Bilan scored for the 74 – 68 but Paris Lee retained Panathinaikos’ winning chances with a 3-pointer for the 74 – 71 with 17 seconds remaining.
Marcus Denmon made a pair of free throws and Marius Grigonis missed a triple as the game ended.
Grigonis led Panathinaikos’ scorers with 20 points while also posting a game-high six assists and five rebounds. Arturas Gudaitis had 11 points plus five rebounds and Mateusz Ponitka dropped 10 points (on 1-6 shots).