Panathinaikos BC AKTOR defeated Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 93–74 at Telekom Center Athens, in a matchup for Round 23 of the EuroLeague regular season. Vasilis Toliopoulos led the “greens” in scoring with 21 points.

The game was balanced in its early minutes, with Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz taking a 9–7 lead at 4’, before Panathinaikos BC AKTOR moved ahead 12–11 at 6’. At 9’, the hosts pulled away to 24–13 and closed the first quarter up 26–14. The visitors cut it to 26–18 at 11’, but a minute later the margin grew to +14 (32–18) for the “greens”.

At 14’, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR extended the lead to 34–18, with Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz responding to make it 36–23 at 16’. The advantage climbed to 19 points (44–25) at 18’, and the first half ended 48–31. At 21’, the visitors reduced the deficit to 50–35, but Panathinaikos BC AKTOR immediately answered to make it 55–35.

The green advantage surpassed 20 points at 24’ (58–37) and became 64–41 at 25’. The third quarter ended with the “greens” in front 73–54, and at 32’ the Spanish side trimmed it to 75–58. Panathinaikos BC AKTOR restored control at 80–60 (33’). Although Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz closed to 80–65, the hosts stepped on the gas again to seal a convincing 93–74 victory.

Quarters: 26–14, 48–31, 73–54, 93–74.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts, Kalaitzakis 5 (1), Osman 7, Holmes 12, Sloukas 15 (2), Rogkavopoulos, Samodurov 11 (1), Grant 8, Toliopoulos 21 (5), Faried 8, Hernangomez 6 (2), Yurtseven.
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (Galbiati): Diakite 5 (1), Simons 15 (1), Villar, Omoruyi 1, Kurucs 12, Cabarrot 17 (3), Spagnolo 6 (1), Forrest 4, Radzevicius 2, Diop 9, Frisch 3 (1), Joksimovic.

Ataman: “We played perfect basketball”

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR’s head coach Ergin Ataman, said at the Press Conference after the home win over Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz:

“Throughout the game we played with the right defensive mentality. In the first half we were perfect. We protected the paint, played well in 1v2 and 2v2 situations. Offensively, we shared the ball, controlled the game, played smart basketball and didn’t make many mistakes. With Sloukas and Toliopoulos we organized our offense well. Our pick-and-roll worked perfectly.

The same continued in the second half. Toliopoulos and Sloukas were excellent offensively, while Grant, Samodurov and the rest contributed. It’s important for our system to score when we find open shots at the ‘4’ position. Juancho and Samodurov played very well there. We earned a very good win and played perfect basketball.

True fans support the team. They remember the last 13 years before I came to the club and they always support, because they know that at the end of the season you either achieve some goals or you fail. Before me, for 13 years, this club failed. These fans know it; for the others, I don’t care.

Toliopoulos played excellently. He was very good in the first half against PAOK as well. I saw that he was ready. Samodurov also played well against PAOK. Today, we built our system around that first half against PAOK, which was a tough away game in a great atmosphere. We played perfectly in the first half and built our strategy with that mentality. Toliopoulos was excellent. In every game, the leading scorer can change. Now we go to Tel Aviv, where we’ll play in a very tough atmosphere. We’ll see which players will contribute.”