Panathinaikos down Unics 68-63 in their final game of the top 16 - Euroleague Recap
Reigning champions Panathinaikos finished round one of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague 2011-12 with an impressive 7-3 record. They then pushed their momentum into the top 16, and on Wednesday night, climbed to the number 1 spot
in group G, by downing Unics 68-63 in an exciting encounter. They will now be hosting Maccabi Electra in the quarter finals.
Mike Batiste starred for the Greens by scoring 12 points on a near perfect 6 for 7 from the charity stripe and 5 boards. Sarunas Jasikvicius pounded 10 including 2 for 2 from downtown and 5 assists while the league’s MVP Dimitris
Diamantidis netted 9 points.
Henry Domercant led Unics with a game high 19 points on an aggressive 4 for 7 from the long range while Kelly McCarty bundled 11 points and 6 rebounds. Mike Wilkinson and Nathan Jawai both amassed 10 points each.
Unics coach Evgeny Pashutin was naturally disappointed with the loss, however he was satisfied with the fight, his team put up against the strongest contenders for title.
“We played very well today. It was a tough game against the current Euroleague champion and I believe we competed pretty well. My players did a good job. Now we have got some food for analysis and some time to get prepared for
the coming clashes. I’m pretty pleased with the way we played defensively today, however our opponents also knew how to play in defense. The game was a great experience for us”
The first quarter of the game was highly competitive as both teams displayed rock solid defense. Neither team managed to dominate at any instance and the well fought frame came to an end with Panathinaikos only ahead by 1 point
22-21.
Panathinaikos started the second frame with an 8-0 run to get in a commanding position at 30-21. That run allowed them to dominate the entire frame, and despite a gallant effort from the Unics, they still finished the first half
of the game with a 5 point lead 40-35. The Greens maintained small but significant lead throughout the third quarter and entered the final frame with a 4 point lead 52-48.
Henry drilled a jumper in the first few seconds of the deciding quarter to slash the deficit to 2 points, 50-52, however Panathinaikos were in no mood to lose today and replied with a deciding 11-5 spurt in the ensuing passage
to regain their dominance on the game.
Unics kept on fighting hard and gave everything they had, however unfortunately, they still felt short by 5 points in the end.
Tags: