Panathinaikos BC AKTOR was defeated 102–97 by Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION at Telekom Center Athens in a game for Round 19 of the Stoiximan GBL regular season. Cedi Osman was the leading scorer for the Greens with 19 points.

The game started evenly, with the Greens holding a narrow lead (14–13) at the 5-minute mark. One minute later, the visitors took the lead at 14–19 and extended it to +8 (23–31) by the end of the first quarter.

At 12’, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut the deficit to 29–32, but the Rhodes side once again managed to pull away, going up by eight (33–41) at 14’. The Greens reduced the gap to 41–45 at 16’, yet Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION not only responded but also built its first double-digit lead of the game at 18’ (44–54). The first half ended with the score at 49–56.

The visitors increased their advantage again to +10 (49–59), but Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut it to 58–61 at 23’. Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION remained ahead at 61–69 at 27’ and went back up by ten (63–73) a minute later, before closing the third quarter in front 68–78.

The Greens reduced the deficit to 73–80 at 32’, but the visitors found a way to extend their lead to 78–90 at 35’. Panathinaikos BC AKTOR closed in at 84–90 at 37’, however Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION capitalized on its advantage and secured the win with the final score of 102–97.

Quarters: 23–31, 49–56, 68–78, 97–102.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts, Kalaitzakis 6, Osman 19 (1), Holmes 12, Sloukas 8 (1), Rogkavopoulos 2, Samodurov 8, Grant 5 (1), Nunn 15 (3), Toliopoulos, Hernangomez 11 (1), Mitoglou 4.

Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION (Lykogiannis): Randle 12 (2), Kennedy 14 (2), Karabelas 3 (1), Koloveros 2, Mack 19 (6), Petropoulos 7 (2), Nichols 17 (2), Chrysikopoulos, Kalaitzakis, Kouroupakis 2, Galvanini 16, Akin 10.

Ataman: “Mentally and physically exhausted”

The head coach of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Ergin Ataman, stated in the Press Conference following the home game against Kolossos H HOTELS COLLECTION:

“We were mentally and physically very exhausted after Friday’s EuroLeague game. Still, we did not expect to be that weak, especially at the start of the game. We allowed Kolossos to score 56 points in the first half and that gave them confidence. In the second half we fought, but it’s not easy when the opponent has confidence and you are mentally and physically tired. In the end, we had the chance to win, but we made some mistakes in the last minute and lost the game.

I don’t believe we are playing badly. We played an excellent game against Real Madrid and a very good game against the top team in the EuroLeague, which we lost on Baldwin’s last shot. Today we played terribly, but the motivation is different. Of course we wanted to win, but the mental preparation is different.”

“Our intention is to use Hayes-Davis in the Final 8, because he is a very important player. We spoke last week and he told me he is physically ready and will start practicing tomorrow. If he is ready, he will play. First, we need to integrate Nigel into the system, so no, we will not sign another center. We have a good roster that can compete against anyone. A loss like today’s can happen in sports when you are not mentally ready. I hope the new ‘addition’ for our team will be Mathias Lessort. That is the plan and it is progressing very well. We expect him to rejoin the team after the Cup.

With these two players, obviously everything will be different, because both Nigel Hayes-Davis and Mathias Lessort are extremely high-level players, so they will help us. I’m not saying they will change everything, because we already have excellent players on the roster. But in order to reach our high goals, they will help us. Our addition will be Mathias Lessort; I don’t believe we will make another signing. Nigel Hayes-Davis is our final transfer.

To be honest, after today, we saw that we can lose to any team, so I’m not thinking about the Cup final. We must be ready for the quarterfinals against a good team like PAOK. Then we will see, step by step. Our team has shown that it has the ability to fight in big games and win. We simply need to be mentally ready, analyze today’s mistakes, but it’s not time for drama because one of our major goals of the season is ahead of us. We will go there and try to win the Cup, just as we did last year.”