US forward Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos dunks the ball in the Greens’ 82-74 victory at PAOK on Sunday. Batiste scored 15 points and collected six rebounds as Panathinaikos maintained its lead in the race for the Greek basketball league title with an advantage of two points over Olympiakos.

Panathinaikos maintained its two-point lead at the head of the basketball league with its hard-fought 82-74 win at PAOK on Sunday, one of the few tricky places the champion still had to visit before clinching the top spot in the regular season.

Olympiakos, in second, had a virtual walkover against lowly Ilisiakos, winning 101-60 at home, while Maroussi, in third, downed Trikala 78-65.

Aris climbed back into the playoff spots by convincingly beating Panionios 95-78 as Kolossos also edged closer to a top-eight finish thanks to a 74-72 away win over struggling Kavala. AEK has steered clear of the relegation zone with a valuable 82-79 victory at Olympia Larissa, with the host remaining at the bottom of the table.

Panellinios has all but confirmed its entry to the regular season’s top-four following an 86-79 home win over Peristeri on Saturday, and today the Kypseli club hosts Bilbao of Spain in its last group game of the Eurocup. If Panellinios wins by 21 points it will finish top of its group, having already clinched its qualification. Also today Aris visits Le Mans, but has also qualified.