Panathinaikos AKTOR set a bow for the first cup of the season! The champions of Europe and Greece may have been pressured in the first quarter by Aris, but in the remaining three quarters, they played a terrible defense and qualified for this year’s Stoiximan Super Cup final by winning 81-68.
Excellent performance once again from him Omer Yurtseven who dominated the airwaves by collecting eleven total rebounds. A very promising appearance from Banks for Aris with the American center giving Panathinaikos’ front line a hard time.
Kendrick Nunn was the top scorer for Panathinaikos with 16 points, with Kalaitzakis finishing the match with 11, Sloukas with nine, while Grant, Lessor and Yurtseven each had eight.
On the opposite side for Aris, Bohorides had a great match with 16 points, while Banks was the second scorer with 11.
The match:
With Grant, Nan, Grigonis, Mitoglou and Lessor in his five, the Panathinaikos AKTOR, at the moment when Banks, Noley, DeJulius, Bohorides and Mantzoukas started on the floor for Aris. The yellows started strongly as after Lessor’s basket, they were 2/2 with former “green” Mandzoukas and Bohorides making it 6-2. Banks was creating several cracks in the “cloverleaf” racket, as was O Lessor who had six of Panathinaikos’ first eight points. Nan “smashed the pomegranate” with a crazy three-pointer, with Mandzukic answering for 13-11.
The American… warmed up by giving the “clover” a new lead with a new three-pointer, while with his own jump shot Ataman’s team found themselves in the +3 (16-13). However, Aris always found a way to react with a three-pointer Toliopoulosbrought the match to 20-20 which was also the score for the first period.
With an important 6-0 run which came from two indirect 3-pointers by Yurtseven and Sluka, Panathinaikos was ahead 26-20 of Aris at the beginning of the second period. The two teams were equally misguided as a result of which there was no score for a little less than two minutes with Banks “breaking” the drought thanks to two shots by Banks that reduced the score to 28-24.
Panathinaikos reached an eight-point lead for the first time (32-24) with Yurtseven and Kalaitzakis finding their way to the opposing basket, exploiting gaps in Aris’ racket. The two teams transferred their game to the paint, with the result that a large part of the 2nd period went to the line of shots with Panathinaikos being more accurate and bringing the match to 37-30, while the Mitoglou with a basket from the corner brought Panathinaikos to 39-30 and the timeout, 1:30 before the end. The defense of Panathinaikos continued to be excellent and finished the second quarter, conceding just 10 pointsgoing to the locker room with his pro +14 (44-30).
With Panathinaikos leaving for the first time at +15 (47-32) with a three-pointer by Sloukas, after a basket by Bohorides, the second half began in Rhodes. Bohorides may have reduced it with a three-pointer of his own, but a quick 8-0 run by Panathinaikos brought the score to 55-37 for the first +18 for Ergin Ataman’s team. Kastritis took a lot from Banks who did exceptionally well against Mitoglou, however Panathinaikos wanted to put the match… to sleep, with Nan and Mitoglou-Grand helping to score, at the moment when Lessor and Mitoglou contributed both offensively and defensively to the 64-44 third quarter.
The match was now over with the score difference giving Ataman the right to try different formations ahead of the final. Juancho contributed offensively, with Yurceven grabbing plenty of rebounds. Until the end nothing changed and Panathinaikos got the victory with a score of 81-68 and at the same time the ticket for the Stoiximan Super Cup final.
The quarters: 20-20, 44-30, 66-46, 81-68
Source: Sport Fm
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