Five wins out of five for Greeks in Europe

The first part of the so-called “double-header” in the new Euroleague, with all teams playing twice within two days, produced a double Greek victory as Olympiakos defeated Armani Milano in Piraeus and Panathinaikos snatched victory from Bamberg in Germany.

Erick Green was the hero for Olympiakos for the second time in three days (after the league win at Doxa Lefkadas) as the Greek champion defeated Milano 91-81 on Tuesday.

Green scored consecutive triples in the third quarter allowing the Reds to pull away from the Italians (70-61 after 30 minutes) and stroll to a much-needed victory and a 2-1 record after three games. Green and Vassilis Spanoulis had 16 points each on the night.

Then on Wednesday Panathinaikos very nearly paid for a disastrous third period that overturned its first-half lead (37-42) at Bamberg, leading to a 10-point advantage for the Germans three minutes from the end (83-73).

Yet the debut of coach Xavi Pascual on the Panathinaikos bench was destined to be a winning one, as the Germans were denied any further scoring and Panathinaikos came back from the dead to score 11 unanswered points, and win the game 84-83 through a Nick Calathes basket in the end.

KC Rivers scored 18 points and James Feldeine added 16, as Panathinaikos is also on a 2-1 record.

Up next on Thursday Olympiakos travels to Vitoria to ace Baskonia, while Panathinaikos entertains Red Star Belgrade on Friday.

In the Basketball Champions League, AEK trounced host Charleroi 80-58, PAOK saw off visiting Usak 59-52 and Aris downed Bakken Bears 82-66 at home.