Win at last for Panathinaikos in Europe, as Reds stay on top

While Euroleague leader Olympiakos’ win over Bayern at home on Thursday was hardly a surprise, the victory Panathinaikos scored against Red Star Belgrade in Athens on Friday was definitely eye-catching, after a long string of six defeats for the Greens.

Panathinaikos came back from 16 points down to beat the Serbs 75-66 for only its ninth win in 28 games.

A miserable first half (trailing 42-29 at half-time) gave way to a spectacular final 20 minutes for the Athens giant that enjoyed a partial 46-24 to win comfortably in the end.

This was the first win in the Euroleague for caretaking coach Christos Serelis, who chose to leave Dwayne Bacon out of this game, for disciplinary reasons.

Giorgos Papagiannis stood out with his 17 points and seven rebounds, while Derrick Williams made 13 points. 

Ruthless Olympiakos thrashed Bayern Munich 102-74 in Piraeus to stay for one more week at the top of the Euroleague standings.

This 20th win for the Greek champion in 28 games was one of the easiest ones this season, with the hosts dominating the match from start to finish, having started with a partial 15-0 after the first five minutes.

Sasha Vezenkov paced the Reds with 18 points, followed by Shaquielle McKissic with 15 and Giannoulis Larentzakis with 14.