PAO's Lithuanian duo sinks Crvena Zvezda in nail-biting drama / News - Basketnews.com

Grigonis and Gudaitis combined for 29 points.

Credit: Zumapress - Scanpix Credit Zumapress - Scanpix

Led by Marius Grigonis and Arturas Gudaitis, Panathinaikos BC Athens (1-1) bounced back after a close loss to Real Madrid and defeated Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (0-2), 77-75 (18-24, 24-14, 15-18, 20-19).

Player of the Game EFF 21 Marius Grigonis Points 17 Accuracy 5-6 Rebounds 2 Assists 3

Derrick Williams poured in two free throws and tied the game with 1:27 remaining (73-73). Zvezda had held a lead of roughly 5 points for much of the last 5 minutes, but Panathinaikos made a clutch comeback.

With the game tied, Zvezda looked to run a pick and roll to get a mismatch. Nikola Ivanovic pulled two defenders on him and then sent a pass toward Ben Bentil at the top of the key. Mateusz Ponitka read the play, intercepted the pass, and ran the break together with Derrick Williams to score the go-ahead layup with 21.3 seconds remaining (75-73).

Zvezda had the last attack. Ben Bentil managed to grab an offensive rebound and draw a foul. He went to the line with 6.9 seconds left but missed the crucial free throw. PAO held on for a narrow 77-75 victory.

Crvena Zvezda: Ben Bentil 18 (4/7 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 6 REB, 3 STL), Hassan Martin 12 (5/6 2PT), Luka Mitrovic 8 (6 REB).

Panathinaikos: Marius Grigonis 17 (3/4 3PT), Arturas Gudaitis 12 (4/5 2PT), Mateusz Ponitka 10, Georgios Papagiannis 9 (4/10 2PT, 7 REB), Derrick Williams 8 (6 REB), Andrew Andrews 8 (5 TO).

Game highlights

Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.