Panathinaikos surprises Zvezda to start tournament

U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens tipped off the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade with a surprise as it defeated host side U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 69-68 in a thrilling opening game of the event. Stavros Polatoglou hit the game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds remaining for Panathinaikos, which was paced by Marios Giotis with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in the Group A game. Emmanouil Kontoudis picked up 15 points and 8 assists and Anastasios Kostopoulos and Stefanos Makariadis both chipped in 11 points for the winners. The 2014 continental champion Zvezda, which won the ANGT Belgrade eight straight years between 2011 and 2018, lost despite Nikola Manojlovic scoring 19 points with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Filip Brankovic had 13 points and Filip Andusic added 10 points and 7 rebounds in the defeat.

Panathinaikos started well with Kontoudis scoring the first points of the competition and Giotis nailing two three-pointers for a 13-6 lead. Zvezda held the Greek side scoreless for nearly 2 minutes but could only pull within 13-9. Polatoglou picked up two scores and Panathinaikos was up 19-14 after 10 minutes. Neither team scored for the first 3 minutes of the second quarter until Makariadis’ three-pointer to make it 22-14. Lazar Joksimovic ended Zvezda’s 5-minute scoreless drought and a second Makariadis three-ball had Panathinaikos up 25-16. Kontoudis also connected from long range and Zvezda just did not have the offensive firepower to cut into the lead and trailed 34-27 at the break. Giotis’ basket early in the second half pushed the advantage to 38-29 before Manojlovic answered with 7 straight points and Brankovic’s trey gave the home side its first lead 38-39. The lead switched hands on the next five scores with Evangelos Giannoulakis’ trey starting a 7-0 spurt to move ahead 49-43. Darko Bosnjak drained a jumper right before the third quarter buzzer to get Zvezda within 52-48 after 30 minutes. Makariadis opened the final frame with a three-pointer for a seven-point lead but Manojlovic and Brankovic both hit triples and combined for all 12 points in a 0-12 run over nearly 5 minutes for a 55-61 lead. A Kostopoulos three-pointer got the margin down to 62-63 with Marko Mihailovic’s long ball making it 62-65. Kostopoulos added a steal and layup to make it 66-67 and it was tied 67-67 after Giotis split two free throws with 21 seconds left. Joksimovic split two foul shots of his own with 8.8 seconds to play before Polatoglou hit the game-winner with 1.3 seconds remaining.