Panathinaikos BC AKTOR were defeated by EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 74–87 at the Telekom Center Athens, in a game for the 20th round of the EuroLeague regular season. Juancho Hernangomez was the leading scorer for the Greens with 17 points.

The game was balanced in its opening minutes, with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR taking a 12–7 lead at the 4th minute. At 5’, the Greens made it 15–9, while at 9’ the visitors cut the deficit to 17–14. The first quarter ended with the score at 20–15.

The “clover” pulled away with a double-digit lead at 11’ (25–15), before the Italian side responded and reduced the score to 25–20 a minute later. At 14’ it was 28–24, however at 15’ Panathinaikos BC AKTOR extended the margin to +9 (33–24). The first half came to a close with the score at 43–38.

At 21’, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan closed in at 43–41 and at 22’ took the lead 45–43, going on a 7–0 run. The visitors moved ahead 53–48 at 25’, but at 27’ the Greens went back in front at 56–55. At 29’, the Italian team regained the lead at 59–58 and finished the third quarter ahead 61–58, before extending the gap to 66–58 at 31’.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut it to 66–63 a minute later, but at 34’ the visitors pulled away again at 71–63, remaining in control until the final buzzer and claiming the win by 87–74.

Quarters: 20–15, 43–38, 58–61, 74–87.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 2, Kalaitzakis, Osman 6 (2), Holmes 14, Sloukas 13 (2), Rogkavopoulos, Grant 3, Nunn 10 (2), Faried 5, Grigonis, Hernangomez 17 (4), Yurtseven 4.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (Poeta): Mannion 3 (1), Brown 17 (1), Booker 2, Brooks 24 (5), LeDay 10 (1), Ricci 7 (1), Flaccadori 1, Guduric 7 (1), Shields, Nebo 16, Tote, Dunston.

Ataman: “A huge loss for us”

The head coach of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Ergin Ataman, stated at the post-game Press Conference following the home game against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan:

“I think we threw away all the big away wins we have achieved this season. We played terribly in the second half. It was difficult to recognize the team — nothing worked. In basketball, there are some days when everything goes wrong. Tonight is a huge loss for us. I apologize to our fans, to everyone who supports us. I take responsibility. We don’t have time to cry over this loss. We are still on track with our goals. We still have another tough game ahead. We must forget the result and prepare for the next match.”