Maccabi Tel Aviv proved tonight at Athens that it still belongs to the elite teams of Europe, although the yellows lost to Panathinaikos 88-90. Simas Jasaitas’s game-tying basket was waived off as the referees ruled that the ball left his hands after the buzzer sounded. The exciting game added another chapter to the exciting Panathinaikos-Maccabi rivalry. Will Bynum was the main man for Maccabi with 22 points, 5 assists and 4 steals, while Nikola Vujcic added 18. Panathinaikos led for much of the game, but was never able to pull away. Noel Felix closed the gap to 89-88 with 16 seconds left. Dimitrios Diamantidis had a chance to ice the game from the line with 3 seconds left, but his second shot rolled out. Vujcic was first to the rebound and rifled a cross-court pass to Jasaitas, but his shot was too late, allowing the Greens to celebrate a hard-earned win.