FC Bayern Munich (5-6) edged out Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (2-9) 81-78 (22-22, 15-22, 22-16, 22-18) to hand PAO their fifth Turkish Airlines EuroLeague setback in a row.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
20
|
| Darrun Hilliard | |
| Points | 20 |
| Accuracy | 7-9 |
| Rebounds | 1 |
| Assists | 2 |
Both teams exchanged with successful attacks, as Othello Hunter scored a two-pointer with 1:50 to go (74-76). Clubs were struggling on the offensive end, Okaro White was fouled and could convert neither of two free throws.
On the other side, Vladimir Lucic hit a three-point dagger to give his team a minimal advantage (77-76) with 28 seconds to play.
Daryl Macon's three-pointer was off the mark and Augustine Rubit converted 2 free throws (79-76) with 9.9 seconds. Bayern fouled Nemanja Nedovic who scored two points from the line (78-79). 7 seconds were left on the clock.
The free throws marathon continued as Rubit drained two of them (81-78) with 6 seconds to play. Nemanja Nedovic had the opportunity to send the game into overtime but he missed the last shot from deep. Bayern won the thriller by three points.
Even though Deshaun Thomas gave the one-point lead for Bayern (61-60) at the start of the last quarter, Daryl Macon, Howard Sant-Roos, Georgios Papagiannis, and Nemanja Nedovic organized a 9-0 spurt (70-61) with 6 minutes to go.
Though, Bayern did not raise the white flag. Deshaun Thomas scored a two-pointer, Vladimir Lucic hit a shot from behind the arc, while Darrun Hilliard added 2+1 to close the gap to 3 points (69-72) with 3:30 to play.
Darrun Hilliard posted 20 points (3/3 2PT, 4/6 3PT, 2/2 FT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 4 drawn fouls, and 20 PIR for the winning side.
"It's never easy to play two games like that, essentially back-to-back. The EuroLeague is a tough league. Pana has a great team. Their record may not show it, but they’re a great team, great players, well-coached and they fought today. It was a tough win for us. It took us a while, but Lucic came in big for us and pulled it out," said Hilliard post-game.
"It was an extremely complicated game. We didn't shine. But to tell you the truth, who cares? When you play back-to-back, it's like Forrest Gump: It's like a box of chocolates and you don't know what kind of game it’s going to be," commented Andrea Trinchieri.
"A loss would have sent us back into the mud. Now we are still in the mud, but after looking at our schedule, we played many road games, we play at home against very good teams. I believe, at least, we can breathe and hopefully rest a little bit before the next game and build something," the Italian Specialist added.
Daryl Macon was a top performer for the Greek powerhouse, registering 12 points (2/3 2PT, 1/4 3PT, 5/6 FT), 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 drawn fouls, and 18 PIR.
"It's obvious that it came down to some details of the end. We had a chance to win, I think we deserved to win today because we played well, we played smart. But okay, sport is what it is. One shot, one missed shot, one bad decision decides the game. I want to say that my players really fought today and had a good spirit," spoke Dimitris Priftis after the match.
After the 15 minutes break, Ioannis Papapetrou hit a trey and the Greens gained a double-digit lead (49-39). However, Bayern responded with a 12-3 push to reduce the deficit to one point (59-60) before the decisive period. Andreas Obst converted 2 shots from deep, while Othello Hunter and Augustine Rubit added two-point buckets.
Panathinaikos arranged a 14-4 run in the mid-second quarter to gain the biggest first-half lead - 8 points (40-32). Jeremy Evans, Daryl Macon, and Ioannis Papapetrou contributed with the baskets. Both teams went neck to neck in the last minutes of the first half and went to the locker room, while the scoreboard was showing 44-37 for PAO.
Bayern: Darrun Hilliard 20, Deshaun Thomas 15 (3 REB), Augustine Rubit 12 (5 REB), Corey Walden 8 (5 REB, 5 AST).
Panathinaikos: Ioannis Papapetrou 17 (3 REB), Daryl Macon 12 (4 REB, 6 AST), Okaro White 9 (4 REB), Howard Sant-Roos 8 (3 AST).
Highlights
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