 With a buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime from Vlantimir Giankovits, Panionios BC Athens downed Telenet Oostende 101-100 to pick up its first victory in Group F and crush Oostende’s hopes of progressing into the Last 16. The visitors rallied from 11 points down in fourth quarter with a 3-16 run to take a 73-78 lead, but triples from Giankovits, Landon Milbourne and Mark Payne in the final 55 seconds of regulations sent the game into overtime. Oostende held a 5-point lead on couple of occasions in the extra session, and grabbed 98-100 lead with 3 seconds to go, but Giankovits hit a triple to give Panionios its first victory of the season. Milbourne led the victors with 26 points, Chris Booker scored 16, Nikos Pappas finished with 14, Mario Batis had 11 plus 6 assists and Giankovits scored all of his 8 points in the final minute of regulation and in overtime. For Oostende, Dusan Djordjevic had 20 points on 12-for-12 free throw shooting and also dished out 8 assists. Matthew Lojeski had 18 plus 8 rebounds, Dragisa Drobnjak scored 17, Brent Wright 11 and Veselin Petrovic 10 in defeat.
Landon Mibourne opened the game with a layup and a jumper, however Wright scored twice inside and Jamel McLean gave the visitors a 6-8 lead with a dunk and a jumper. After Mario Stojic, Djordjevic and Drobnjak all scored from close range, Oostende went on a 2-13 run that gave them 11-21 advantage. A basket-plus-foul apiece from Pappas and Batis cut it to 19-23, before Petrovic stopped the surge with a triple and Oostende had 21-26 lead after the first quarter. A three from Wes Wilkinson after 90 seconds of the second quarter made it 23-29, and the teams kept trading baskets afterwards before a three-pointer from Dragicevic cut it to 32-35 and sparked a run from Panionios. Vasileos Kavvadas, Payne and Booker all scored to tie the game, and a pair of free throws from Pappas gave the hosts 41-40 halftime lead.
Booker started the second half with a layup, however Wright and Lojeski put Oostende back in front as the teams kept exchanging leads. Djordjevic hit a triple to make it 46-50, but Milbourne answered with a three of his own before the same player added a jumper and Booker made a layup for 53-52. Milbourne and Booker scored the first 15 points of the quarter for the hosts before Batis hit a jumper, which sparked a 12-0 run that also included a triple from Milbourne and a layup from Payne as Panionios took a 65-54 lead. Djordjevic hit a triple at the end of the third quarter, and Ioannis Athanasoulas and Petrovic traded threes at the start of the fourth for 68-62. With a jumper and a basket-plus-foul from Lojeski, the visitors got within 70-69 before Drobnjak went on a 0-7 run with a layup, a triple and a jump shot to make it 73-78. Pappas got Panionios within a single point with back-to-back layups, but Lojeski hit a three-pointer to help the visitors build a 6-point lead with 60 seconds to go. However, on back-to-back possessions, Giankovits sank a triple and Milbourne hit a triple-plus-foul to cut it to 84-85. Djordjevic kept Oostende’s lead at 3 by going 4 for 4 from the foul line, but Payne hit a three-pointer with 7 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, 89-89.
In the extra session, Lojeski and Drobnjak got Oostende to a 91-96 advantage. After Milbourne and Giankovits sparked a 7-0 run, Drobnjak made a layup to tie the game before Djordjevic hit both free throws for 98-100 with 3 seconds to go. It was enough time for Panionios to get the ball to Giankovits, who sank a shot that gave the hosts a thrilling victory.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Eurocupbasketball.com
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