By George Georgakopoulos

All is well that ends well for Panathinaikos, as the Greens survived a major scare at home to beat Brose Baskets Bamberg of Germany 76-73 on Friday evening.

Against a team that has had no wins yet in the top-16 of the Euroleague, Panathinaikos showed complacency and lack of concentration at times, allowing its lead to slip several times through its collective fingers. Apparently, the looming derby with Olympiakos on Monday had dominated the hosts’ mind.

The Greeks led 36-33 at half-time after a relatively poor game by their standards, showing that their biggest stars, Dimitris Diamantidis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis have not yet regained their form after their injuries.

Even a nine-point lead in the third period was not enough for Panathinaikos to pull away from its visitor as Bamberg fought back to lead 59-57 halfway through the last quarter.

However, a decent finish to the game by Panathinaikos, led by Mike Bramos, kept the Germans at bay and gave Panathinaikos its fourth win in six games in this second round of the tournament.

Bramos was the top scorer for the Greens with 16 points, with Stephane Lasme adding another 15.