Panathinaikos Squeaks by Maccabi 80 – 79 in Ljubljana

By: Amy Samin

Maccabi opened the game with White, Burstein, Fisher, Williams and Arroyo.
Panathinaikos’ starting players were Perperoglou, Diamantidis, Batiste, Jasikevicius, and Tsartsaris.

An excellent start by Rodney White, which included a three pointer, a basket and a dazzling pass to Tal Burstein, gave Maccabi an 11 – 7 lead three minutes into the start of the game.
The celebration was spoiled by two quick fouls by D’Or Fisher, which put him on the bench much earlier than expected. Maccabi kept on coming though, with a tough defensive game which brought the score to 15 – 7.Panathinaikos tried to take advantage of some slackness on Maccabi’s part, and closed the gap to 22 – 21 with a minute left in the quarter.
Arroyo took matters into his own hands with a three pointer and an assist to Casspi, and Maccabi ended the quarter leading 29 – 23.

Maccabi started the second quarter with Casspi, Eliyahu and Batista under the basket.
Hagag filled in for Arroyo, which led to a downturn in Maccabi’s level of play.
The Greeks took advantage, and with Nicholas scoring a three pointer, Panathinaikos took their first lead of the game, 33 – 32 after four minutes of play in the quarter.
Panathinaikos kept up the momentum, and Maccabi started falling behind, failing to score for several minutes. With just three minutes left in the quarter, the Greek lead was at 42 – 36.
Burstein and Arroyo were able to keep Maccabi in the game, however, and the score was at 42 – 40 with just seconds before the end of the half. Arroyo found White open and the latter scored to tie the game at 42 at the buzzer.

The second half started out with the teams evenly matched, as a three pointer by Saras was quickly followed by a long shot by Arroyo, and the tie continued at 45 – 45, two minutes into the third quarter. Maccabi went into high gear, and thanks to strong defense and increased speed on offense, took a 55 – 47 lead, four minutes into the quarter.
Arroyo really took charge with on-fire shooting, scoring two three point shots one after the other, to keep the lead.

The Greek’s head coach Zelimir Obradovic called a time out, which took the momentum away from Maccabi and gave it to Panathinaikos; and thanks to some three pointers of their own Panathinaikos closed the gap and brought the score to 60 – 58 with three minutes left in the quarter. Maccabi head coach Efy Birenboim then called for a time out, but the momentum stayed with Panathinaikos. Nicholas, who was given the reins by his coach, used smart play making and a three point shot to give the Greeks the lead, 66 – 62 with a minute left in the quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Maccabi fought hard to close the gap, and battled to a 70 – 68 score, with Panathinaikos still in the lead, four and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.
A three pointer by Casspi following a penetration and assist by White, and a Hollywood-worthy lay up by Arroyo brought the score to 73 – 73 with four minutes left in the game.
Casspi scored two more baskets in the next few minutes, giving Maccabi a four point lead.
The Greeks took it in stride, scoring a three pointer that gave them back the lead, 78 – 77 with two minutes left in the game.

Maccabi failed to score in their next two possessions, while Nicholas missed from outside the three point line. Casspi made two free throws to give the lead back to Maccabi, 79 – 78 with thirty seconds left in the game. Spanoulis scored over Fisher, and Maccabi took their last possession of the ball with only 8 seconds remaining, time enough to score.
But poor ball handling on the in-bound made it difficult for Arroyo to control the ball; and those lost seconds cost Maccabi the game.
The result, Panathinaikos 80, Maccabi 79.

Scorers:

For Maccabi: Arroyo 18 points, White 13, Casspi 12, Burstein 11, Batista 11, Williams 7, Eliyahu 3, Fisher 2, and Simmons 2.
Hagag and Green played but did not score.

For Panathinaikos: Spanoulis 15 points, Batiste 12, Pekovic 11, Nicholas 10, Tsartsaris 9, Fotsis 7, Diamantidis 6, Jasikevicius (Saras) 3, Hatzivrettas 3, Kecman 2, Perperoglou 2.

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