Home wins for Greens and Reds in Euroleague
Greens and Reds scored important home wins for the Euroleague this week, as Panathinaikos defeated Fenerbahce on Thursday and Olympiakos downed Real Madrid on Friday.
Panathinaikos improved its game, compared to its poor showings at Monaco and Aris, to beat Fenerbahce 91-87 at the Olympic Sports Hall in Athens, boosted by its fans who appeared to make the difference for the Greens.
The Turkish team led for most of the game, and advanced 87-82 with 40 seconds left on the clock. Then a sequence of unsportsmanlike fouls by Fener and perfect decisions by the Greeks gave Panathinaikos ja 9-0 partial score that turned things around and gave it a much-needed victory.
Nemanja Nedovic stood out for the Greek champion as he bounced back from months of mediocrity scoring 20 points, and captain Ioannis Papapetrou made 14.
Then Olympiakos edged out Real Madrid 74-68 in Piraeus, largely thanks to its defense, holding one of the most prolific teams in Europe below 70 points.
The match was tight throughout, until the Reds pulled ahead by 11 (70-59) with a partial 14-3. The Spaniards fought back, cut their arrears to three (71-68), but could not go any further.
Sasha Vezenkov made the difference for Olympiakos, registering a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds), followed by influential Tyler Dorsey with 12 points.
Olympiakos is now on two wins from as many games, while Panathinaikos has a 1-1 record.
