Panathinaikos AKTOR was defeated (91-83) by Olympiacos in Game 2 of the Stoiximan GBL Finals. Kostas Sloukas and Ioannis Papapetrou each scored 16 points.

After the first four minutes, Panathinaikos AKTOR took the lead, which reached up to +5 (10-15 at the 6th minute). The Greens maintained the upper hand until the 8th minute of the game (16-17), with the first quarter ending at -2 (19-17).

The gap widened to -10 (31-21), with Panathinaikos AKTOR momentarily cutting it to six points (35-29) in the 18th minute, before Olympiacos restored a double-digit lead (41-31) at the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, Panathinaikos AKTOR found themselves down by 16 (54-36 at the 23rd minute), but the period ended with the deficit at eleven points (66-55). As time went on, the Greens began to chip away at Olympiacos’ lead—first to -8 (70-62 at the 33rd minute) and then to -6 (85-79) with two minutes remaining in the game.

In the end, the match concluded with Panathinaikos AKTOR falling (91-83), and the Stoiximan GBL Finals series is now tied at 1-1.

Quarters: 23-18, 41-31, 66-55, 91-83.
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Walkup 16 (2), Fall 5, Vezenkov 15 (1), Papanikolaou 6 (2), Fournier 8 (2), Lee 4, Dorsey 16 (1), Peters 9, Milutinov 2, McKissic 10.
Panathinaikos AKTOR (Ataman): Osman 8 (1), Grant 5, Nunn 10 (1), Gabriel 8, Hernangómez 7 (1), Kalaitzakis, Sloukas 16 (2), Samodurov 16 (4), Mitoglou 9 (1), Yurtseven.

Serelis: “The referees did not apply the same criteria”

Christos Serelis spoke after the end of Game 2 of the Stoiximan GBL Finals. Here is what the assistant coach of Panathinaikos AKTOR had to say:

“I’ve been a head coach for quite a few years, around nine consecutively in the A1 league, coming from a small team in the division. I’ve experienced many times what it means to be on the receiving end of unfair or biased officiating. As a head coach, I always chose not to speak out, because the person at the forefront often feels a lot of pressure, might say things they regret, get punished, or harm the team.

But as an assistant coach now, and with a club like Panathinaikos, I believe I’m calm enough to recognize that in today’s game, the way the referees officiated many plays had a significant impact. I believe the same standards were not applied to Olympiacos’ defense and ours.

I can assure you that at halftime, even though we were losing, we didn’t talk at all about the referees. We focused on fixing our game and correcting our mistakes. Even though we didn’t start the second half well and Olympiacos took a 20-point lead, we came back—and I believe some decisions didn’t even allow us to fight for more.

Without ignoring our own mistakes—we’re fully aware of them and want to correct them—I believe we had every right to express strong complaints about how we were treated. That said, the series is now 1-1. On Wednesday, we have a very important game at home. We have to win it, take back the lead, and put pressure on Olympiacos at SEF.”

When asked about the lack of pressure Panathinaikos AKTOR applied to Olympiacos in the first half, he responded:

“I don’t think it’s a matter of Greek or foreign players. Maybe you’re right. That’s also why I brought this up—because some might say we’re not talking about our own mistakes. Offensively, I agree, we didn’t pressure Olympiacos the way we should have in the first half. We could’ve caused them far more problems and maybe prevented them from building that first-half lead.”