Panathinaikos BC AKTOR was defeated on the road by Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade with a score of 78-62, in a game for Round 27 of the EuroLeague regular season. Top scorer for the Greens was TJ Shorts with 21 points.

The opening minutes were balanced, with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR taking a 7-3 lead at 3’, before the hosts cut it to 9-7 a minute later. At 7’, the Serbian side moved in front (14-12), while at 9’ the Greens regained the lead (19-16). The first quarter ended with Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade ahead 20-19, while at 12’ they made it 26-23.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR responded by going up 29-26 in the next minute, but at 16’ the hosts were back in front (32-30). At 18’, they stretched the margin to 38-30 and closed the first half with a double-digit advantage (45-33). At 23’, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade extended their lead to 53-38, while at 26’ the difference reached 20 points (62-42). The hosts made it 66-42 at 28’, a score that stood at the end of the third quarter. The Serbian team managed their lead in the fourth period and sealed the victory with the final score of 78-62.

Quarters: 20-19, 45-33, 66-42, 78-62.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (Penarroya): Washington, Osetkowski 7 (1), Mijailovic, Pokusevski, Brown 16 (2), Radanov, Payne 18 (3), Bonga 16, Lakic, Jekiri 6, Fernando 11, Calathes 4.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 21, Osman 5, Holmes 4, Sloukas 4 (1), Rogkavopoulos, Grant 4, Toliopoulos 3 (1), Faried 4, Grigonis 3 (1), Hernangomez 7 (1), Mitoglou 7, Yurtseven.

Ataman: «We couldn’t respond with the same level of aggressiveness»

The head coach of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Ergin Ataman, stated during the press conference following the away game against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade:

“Partizan played a very physical and aggressive game, and we couldn’t respond with the same aggressiveness. Maybe the reason was that we came from a very tough game against Real Madrid and our veteran players, like Sloukas and Grant, made a big effort two nights ago.

We also have problems offensively without Kendrick Nunn. We know that. But tonight Sloukas and Grant were tired and we didn’t have other solutions. We missed open shots, we didn’t put energy into our defense. Partizan deserved the win, because we didn’t play with the energy needed to match their physicality. I don’t know anything about Nunn’s situation, we are waiting every week to see when he will return. If you have any other question about the game, I can answer.

We made many mistakes. Without Nunn, our main players are Grant and Sloukas. Partizan played very good defense against them. We missed open shots with Osman and Hernangomez early. Shorts scored on out-of-system situations, because we couldn’t run our plays tonight, since they pressured Sloukas and Grant a lot, stopping our offense.

That’s how emotions are. It can happen during a game (about Rogkavopoulos’ unsportsmanlike foul on Lakic). I think they fought under the basket with the Partizan player and then this reaction came out, because we also played a bad game. It can happen. It’s something normal. All teams are like that, they have ups and downs. Look at the standings. Apart from one or two teams, like Fenerbahce, who won tonight in the last seconds against Paris, look at the results. All teams are in this situation. We will continue toward our goals. We are not the only ones losing. There are also other teams from the top eight that lost this round”.