Panathinaikos BC AKTOR defeated Peristeri Betsson 94–86 at Telekom Center Athens, in a game for Round 14 of the Stoiximan GBL. Cedi Osman led the Greens in scoring with 17 points.

The Greens made a strong start, taking an 8–0 lead by the 2nd minute and extending it to a double-digit margin (10–0) one minute later. Panathinaikos BC AKTOR kept control early on, but Peristeri Betsson reacted, cutting the deficit to 20–17 and even moving in front 22–23 at the end of the first quarter.

The visitors went up by five (26–31) in the 12th minute, before Panathinaikos BC AKTOR tied the game at 33–33 in the 14th and took the lead again at 37–35 a minute later, making it 42–40 in the 17th. However, Peristeri Betsson closed the first half with a 10–4 run to go into the break ahead 46–50.

The Greens came within one at 56–57 in the 25th minute and regained the lead in the 27th (64–60). One minute later they extended it to 66–60, and went into the final quarter up 74–67. In the 34th minute, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR stretched the gap back to double digits (82–71), then surged to +17 at 88–71 in the 36th, before sealing the win with the final 94–86.

Quarters: 22–23, 46–50, 74–67, 94–86.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 11 (1), Kalaitzakis 2, Osman 17 (1), Holmes 9, Sloukas 13 (1), Rogkavopoulos 11, Samodurov 2, Grant 1, Toliopoulos 11, Hernangomez 10 (1), Yurtseven 7.

Peristeri Betsson (Xanthopoulos): Nichols 11 (1), Cardenas 11 (1), Van Tubbergen 8, Petrakis, Payne 10, Ittounas, Mouratos 5 (1), Tziallas 2, Kaklamanakis 6, Harris 13 (2), Carius 14 (4), Jankovic 6.

Ataman: “We will work and train more”

The head coach of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Ergin Ataman, stated at the Press Conference following the home game against Peristeri Betsson:

“Congratulations to our big rival in the Greek league, Olympiacos, who won by 40 points away from home. I say this because if you are a big team, you must play in the league the way they do. Today we got 2 points in the standings, but for me this kind of win is like a loss. What can we do? We will work and we will train more to improve our character and our defense. In this way, we cannot reach any big goal. This is my summary of the game. Tomorrow’s day off has been cancelled and we will start working hard in practice. I also mention Olympiacos because it is not an excuse that we had a double-week. They had one too. They played on Friday and we played on Thursday. We definitely have to improve our mentality, and it is my job to work on that.”