Panathinaikos BC AKTOR was defeated 79-89 by Valencia Basket at the Telekom Center Athens, in a game for Round 14 of the EuroLeague regular season. Kendrick Nunn was the top scorer for the Greens with 23 points.

The visitors started the game better and led 8-3 in the 2nd minute, but by the 4th minute Panathinaikos BC AKTOR had gone ahead 11-8. In the 8th minute the Greens pulled away 18-11, with Valencia Basket cutting it to 18-17 in the 9th, before the quarter ended 22-19. The Greens extended the margin to nine points in the 12th minute (30-21), but by the 15th minute the Spanish team had reduced the gap to one point (32-31) and a minute later took the lead 34-32.

Halftime found Panathinaikos BC AKTOR ahead 44-38, but Valencia Basket opened the second half with a 9-0 run to go up 47-44 by the 22nd minute. In the 24th minute the Greens tied the game at 50-50, and in the 28th the visitors went ahead 62-58. The third quarter ended with the Spanish team leading 65-61, and by the 32nd minute they had extended the lead to 73-65. In the 33rd minute the margin reached double digits (75-65), but in the 34th Panathinaikos BC AKTOR closed in at 75-70. However, the comeback was not completed, with Valencia Basket ultimately prevailing 79-89.

Quarters: 22-19, 44-38, 61-65, 79-89.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 19 (2), Kalaitzakis, Sloukas 12 (2), Rogkavopoulos, Grant 4 (1), Nunn 23 (2), Toliopoulos, Faried 2, Grigonis, Hernangómez 6 (1), Mitoglou 12, Yurtseven 1.
Valencia Basket (Martínez): Badio 12 (3), Taylor 18 (4), Puerto 3, Reuvers 8 (2), Pradilla 5 (1), De Larrea 4, Moore 9 (1), Sàko 4, Thompson 19 (2), Costello 3 (1), Nogues, Yakuba Si 4.

Ataman: “We lost control”

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR head coach Ergin Ataman stated in the post-game Press Conference following the home matchup against Valencia Basket:

“After a good first half in which we played our basketball, we lost the game at the start of the third quarter. In two minutes they had a 9-0 run, easy baskets, we made mistakes, and then we lost control of the game. Throughout the entire second half we made wrong decisions, we missed all our shots, we made 2/15 from three, we missed shots under the rim. They gained confidence, Thompson played excellently in 1-on-1 situations. We didn’t stop the 1-on-1. Tonight we didn’t deserve to win, Valencia played excellently.”