Valencia beats Panathinaikos to snap slide

Valencia Basket snapped its 10-game losing streak by edging Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 67-63 at home on Friday. Erick Green scored 21 points as Valencia improved to 4-11 in the standings, while Panathinaikos dropped to 10-5. Tibor Pleiss added 13 and Bojan Dubljevic 11 for Valencia. Matt Lojeski paced Panathinaikos with 17 points, Marcus Denmon scored 10 and Chris Singleton pulled down 13 rebounds for the guests. Panathinaikos led by double figures in the second quarter, but Pleiss and Green, who combined for 24 first-half points, helped Valencia tie the game, 32-32, at halftime. Singleton and Lojeski combined for nine points in a 0-13 run that gave Panathinaikos a 36-46 margin, but Dubljevic and Green answered with a 10-0 run that tied the game again, 46-46, late in the third quarter. It all came down to the final minute; Dubljevic stepped up with the go-ahead layup and a couple of defensive stops allowed Valencia to get a prestigious home win.

Singleton got Panathinaikos going with a layup off a steal and Lojeski followed a triple with a driving layup for a 0-7 lead. Pleiss and San Van Rossom rescued Valencia and a wild four-point play by Green tied it at 10-10. Lojeski kept pacing the guests with a layup and free throws, which helped the Greens to a 12-17 lead after 10 minutes. Ian Vougioukas hit consecutive jump hooks early in the second quarter and a tip-in by Auguste made it a double-digit game, 12-23. Green struck from downtown and Pleiss followed a jump hook with a dunk, but Rivers and Denmon kept Panathinaikos fully in charge, 19-28. Valencia kept running its offense through Pleiss, who had six points in a 9-0 run that Green capped with a three-pointer to tie it at 28-28. Lukas Lekavicius and Rivers hit floaters, but Pleiss and Green tied it again, 32-32, at halftime.

Green followed a driving layup with free throws for a 36-33 Valencia lead soon after the break. Singleton struck twice from downtown and Lojeski added another one in a 0-13 run that restored a double-digit Panathinaikos lead, 36-46. Alberto Abalde stepped up with a jumper, Dubljevic followed a jump hook with a layup and a big basket by Green caused the guests to call timeout at 44-46. Martinez capped a 10-0 Valencia run with free throws. Vougioukas and Dubljevic traded baskets for a 48-48 tie after 30 minutes. Denmon sank a step-back jumper early in the fourth quarter, but a triple by Dubljevic and a fastbreak layup by Abalde gave Valencia a 53-50 edge. Vougioukas dunked and Denmon hit a triple, but free throws by Green tied it at 55-55. Denmon and Martinez exchanged jumpers. Nikos Pappas hit a triple, but Aaron Doornekamp buried back-to-back shots from beyond the arc for a 63-60 score with over two minutes left. Lojeski joined the three-point shootout, but a layup by Dubljevic restored a 65-63 Valencia edge with 36.6 seconds to go. Denmon missed from downtown and Singleton committed a key turnover. Free throws by Green sealed the outcome with 1.3 seconds remaining.