Panathinaikos suffer Baltic blow
EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 19
| Zalgiris | 82 - 69 | Panathinaikos |
|---|---|---|
| (13 - 19) (33 - 37) (52 - 51) (82 - 69) |
Panathinaikos’ slide down the EuroLeague standings continued on Friday night after the Trifylli were handed an 82-69 defeat in Lithuania…
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A second half collapse saw Panathinaikos stumble to their second consecutive defeat in Lithuania on Friday night as Zalgiris Kaunas cruised to an 82-69 win at the Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas.
Despite leading at halftime, Panathinaikos crumbled after halftime as the Trifylli struggled to cope with Zalgiris’ relentless pressure in the second half.
Deshaun Thomas’ 14 points led Panathinaikos on a night when the team’s bench struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard. Nick Calathes added 11 points, while Sean Kilpatrick also finished with 11 points in his EuroLeague debut for the club.
Aaron White’s 15-point performance led all scorers as the American forward enjoyed a superb shooting night to lead Zalgiris to their eighth win of the season.
Incidentally, Panathinaikos started the stronger of the two sides as the Athenians raced out to a 19-13 lead in the first quarter.
The Panathinaikos lead would remain intact until halftime despite the start of Zalgiris’ resurgence in the second quarter as the Lithuanians still trailed 37-33 after 20 minutes.
Panathinaikos’ advantage on the scoreboard wouldn’t stand the test of time in the second half, however, as a dominant performance from Zalgiris in the second half slowly put the Trifylli back against the ropes.
After taking the lead in the third quarter, Zalgiris blew the game wide open in the fourth quarter as the Lithuanian champions closed the game on a 30-18 run to put an exclamation mark on a memorable win for head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius against his former team.
The loss sees Panathinaikos remain one game outside of the final playoff spot though the road to the postseason might have gotten a bit more difficult as Zalgiris’ win sees the Lithuanians now among the four clubs sitting at 8-11 on the season.
Panathinaikos return to domestic action with meeting with Ifaistos Limnou on Monday before returning to EuroLeague duties on Thursday when they face Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv in Israel.
