Sofo show not enough for PAO in Madrid
Panathinaikos fought hard in its first Euroleague game in the post-Zelimir Obradovic era, but succumbed to the might of Real in Madrid on Friday with an 85-78 score.
With an impressive Sofoklis Schortsanitis in the front line and a determined Dimitris Diamantidis organizing play, the Greens led 44-35 at half-time.
However that was not enough for the team of Argyris Pedoulakis which had to contest its most difficult game in this group stage without having played any league games yet.
Real Madrid recovered in the second half, and with Schortsanitis sidelined for a long spell after having committed four fouls it regained the upper hand in the game to lead 48-46 in the third period and 78-71 in the fourth.
Schortsanitis scored 23 points on the night as he was unstoppable in attack with nine out of nine two-pointers and five out seven free throws. Diamantidis grabbed another 13 points.
Pedoulakis will not be happy with his team?s 20 turnovers, though.
