Panathinaikos BC AKTOR was defeated by Olympiacos 101-94 at Telekom Center Athens, in a game for Round 23 of the Stoiximan GBL. Cedi Osman led the Greens in scoring with 19 points.

The game was balanced in the opening minutes, with the visitors holding a narrow lead (4-5) in the 2nd minute. Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut it to 7-9 a minute later and 10-11 in the 5th, but Olympiacos responded and closed the first quarter ahead by +9 (21-30).

The Reds extended their lead to 32-21 in the 11th minute, with the Panathinaikos BC AKTOR reducing the deficit to 8 (31-39) in the 15th. Olympiacos answered again to go up 51-36, with the first half ending at 44-60.

The Greens mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to 56-55 in the 25th minute and 66-71 in the 27th, before trimming it to 4 (74-79) in the 29th. The third quarter ended 74-80. Panathinaikos BC AKTOR made another push, reducing it to 82-88 in the 36th, but Olympiacos held on to secure the win with the final score 94-101.

Quarters: 21-30, 44-60, 74-80, 94-101.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 18 (1), Kalaitzakis, Osman 19 (3), Sloukas 15 (2), Kouzeloglou, Nunn 17 (1), Lessort 10, Toliopoulos, Faried 4, Mitoglou 11 (1).

Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Walkup 11 (2), Ward 5 (1), Larentzakis 12 (3), Morris 6 (2), Vezenkov 9, Papanikolaou 8 (2), Netzipoglou, Dorsey 18 (3), Peters 11 (2), Milutinov, Hall 13, Jones 8.

Ataman: “Everyone who played showed great character”

The head coach of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Ergin Ataman, stated in the press conference following the home game against Olympiacos:

“I will speak briefly and then take questions. I will not talk about the game, everyone saw it. I want to ask about these situations with Olympiacos. Can Dorsey and Walkup play together for the national team? Not because they are both naturalized, but they play in Greece. They are given the opportunity to play. This is the only league that does this—I don’t think it happens in other countries. Vezenkov plays for the Bulgarian national team. Plus six foreigners, plus three referees. It is very difficult. Very difficult for us to win.

It was like a comedy, because when I asked a referee in the first half why he didn’t call a clear foul that another referee gave, he replied: “It’s my first Greek derby.” I told him, “You started very well.” You will be like this in all Greek derbies. What can I say?

I am proud of the players. We fought. In the second half, we fought. A foul on Faried on a lay-up when the difference was five points was called an offensive foul. For me, it is clearly a defensive foul. Then we lost. It was a five-point game, we came back from -18, and with the basket and the foul it would have been a two-point game. We tried, without having many key players. Everyone who played, especially in the second half, showed great character. This game did not change our life or our situation in the league. We tried, but we were not allowed. I told the players in the locker room that I don’t care. What matters to me are the next three EuroLeague games.

In this game, after Nunn’s ejection, Shorts was excellent and showed that in difficult moments he can help the team.”