Panathinaikos BC AKTOR secured a 91–82 victory over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade at John Cain Arena in Melbourne, in the opening friendly of the 7th “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” Tournament, which is being held in Australia.

The Greens opened the game with a quick 5–5, but Željko Obradović’s players responded by leveling and taking the lead at 11–8 in the 4th minute. Partizan maintained control, extending their advantage to 27–18, with the first quarter ending at 27–20.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut the deficit to 29–33 by the 14th minute, but the nominal visitors pulled away once again. The teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime with the scoreboard reading 37–44.

Coming out of the break, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR went on a 12–8 run to bring the score to 49–52 by the 25th minute, and regained the lead at 53–52 in the 28th minute. The third quarter ended with the Greens up 62–58.

By the 32nd minute, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR had extended the lead to +8 (68–60), and with five minutes remaining, Ergin Ataman’s players widened the gap even further to 78–69. Shortly after, the margin reached +11 (80–69), and the first friendly match on Australian soil concluded with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR claiming the 91–82 win.

Quarters: 20–27, 37–44, 62–58, 91–82

Panathinaikos AKTOR (Ataman): Kalaitzakis, Sloukas, Rogkavopoulos 10 (2), Samodurov 8, Grant 9 (2), Kouzeloglou, Nunn 21 (2), Toliopoulos 7 (1), Hernangómez 9, Mitoglou 7 (1), Yurtseven 20, King.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (Obradović): Jones 2, Milton 5, Washington Jr. 19 (5), Osetkowski 16 (2), Božnjaković 3 (1), Marinković 2, Mihailović 4, Brown 13 (2), Lakić, Parker 18, Danilović.