Brose Baskets stun mighty Panathinaikos 79-76: Euroleague Recap
Fans that had gathered at the Stechert Arena to support their local boys left happy as in a major upset, the home team Brose Baskets pulled off a stunning victory against the reigning Euroleague champions Panathinaikos.
Brose were comfortably placed with a seven point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but a pair of downtown strikes from the defending champions, put the cat among the pigeons. Panathinaikos turned the noose further in the
minutes that followed and were within 77-76 with a minute to go. However, just when it mattered the most, the Greeks buckled under pressure and the Baskets escaped with an incredible win.
Predrag Suput marshalled Brose with 19 points on a near perfect shooting, including 4 for 5 from the glass and 3 for 5 from the downtown. He was assisted well by Julius Jenkins, who scored 13 points. Casey Jacobsen also played
his part to perfection and chipped in with his 10 along with 2 rebounds.
Dimitris Diamantidis was the most outstanding player from the losing side and finished with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists. Kostas Kaimakoglou, the second highest scorer from the side, accumulated 13 points knocking down 3
for 5 from the three-point range while Sato Romain and Nick Calathes scored 11 points each.
In the third minute of the game, Brian Roberts scored through a driving layup to put Brose ahead by 2-0 however it was countered immediately by Dimitris’s jumper at the other end.
Brose reeled off a 5-0 run in the next two minutes capped by Casey Jacobsen’s three to extend the lead to 7-2, but Panathinaikos responded and midway through the frame the scores were evened out at 9. The scores were levelled again
at 16 in the final minute; however Steven Smith drilled a three-pointer in the final seconds to make it 19-16 in the favour of Panathinaikos.
The champions were up and running in the second quarter as two back to back threes by Kostas in the third minute of second quarter increased Panathinaikos’ lead to 25-18. By the 5th minute, the lead had swelled to 9
points 22-31, however Brose did not allow their opponents to completely dominate and courtesy of two three’s by Anton Gavel and Predrag Suput, they slashed the deficit to 31-28.
Predrag then struck again in 7th and 8th minute respectively to keep the scores close and when the first half finished, Panathinaikos were ahead by 40-37.
An early 6 point run by Brose at the start of third quarter propelled them to a 43-42 lead. The next few minutes were intense and neither team allowed the other to get ahead as the scores got levelled on three different occasions.
The trend continued in the period that followed and the teams headed into the final quarter with Brose leading by 60-59.
Brose made their move early in the last frame and raced onto a 71-64 lead in the first 5 minutes. Sato Romain and Dimitris jumped into rescue for Panathinaikos and scored quickly to bring the deficit to only 2 points 74-72 in the
8th minute. Brose on the other hand never stopped scoring and entered the last minute with a lead of three points. From there on, it was all about holding nerves which they successfully did and won in the end.
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