The Yellow & Blue battle back from an 18 point hole in the second quarter to get the big W. Wilbekin led the charge with 23 points. Next Thursday: Away game vs. Anadolu Efes in Istanbul
Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Angelo Caloiaro, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter opened in the starting 5. The Yellow & Blue got off to a slow start, as ex Maccabi Deshaun Thomas led Pao to an early 15:4 advantage. After eight straight misses from deep, Angelo Caloiaro hit the host’s first three of the contest, however, the greens increased their margin, and a Jacob Wiley slam ended the first quarter, 13:29.
After going down by 18, Maccabi started splashing from deep early in the second quarter, Dorsey with two three’s helped reduce the greek advantage, 27:38. Thomas and Georgios Papagiannis kept scoring for the visitors but, Deni Avidja came up off the bench contributing on the offensive end to close the gap with an 11:4 run at the end of the first half. The Yellow & Blue diminished the greens lead to make it 43:46 at the break, winning the second quarter 30:17.
The greeks opened the second half strong, going on a 9:2 run to gain a 9 point advantage, 45:54. Hunter led the Yellow & Blue’s response with their own 9:3 stretch, 54:57. However, Panathinaikos answered after a Rick Pitino timeout, gaining a double-digit edge, 57:67. The point differential swing continued, as Maccabi was able to cut down the lead to 65:69, heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Yellow & Blue started the final quarter on a different intensity, Dorsey, Wilbekin, and Elijah Bryant hit back to back to back triples to give the hosts their first lead of the night, 79:77. Giannis Sfariopoulos’s squad showed why they are the top defensive unit in Europe, capping a 10:0 run for an 84:77 advantage with Acy leading the way blocking his 5th shot of the night. Panathinaikos had no answer to Wilbekin, who splashed a three almost from the mid-court logo, keeping Maccabi perfect at home in EuroLeague play, 88:79.
