Brose sinks Panathinaikos behind Rubit and Wright

Brose Bamberg used a huge fourth quarter to take down the visiting Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 95-74 on Friday night. Bamberg improved to 8-13, three victories behind the eighth and final playoff position, while Panathinaikos dropped to 13-8 in a three-team share of fourth place in the standings. The hosts were up by double digits at the halftime, but the Greens rallied in the third quarter behind a brilliant Nick Calathes. However, Brose was near-perfect in the fourth, converting one possession after another to open a 86-65 lead with 3 minutes to go. Augustine Rubit led the way with a career-high 26 points and also pulled down 8 rebounds. Dorell Wright added 15 points in victory, Maodo Lo scored 12, and 19-year old Louis Olinde had 10 points, surpassing his total of 8 points in his previous eight EuroLeague appearances. For Panathinaikos, Calathes scored 15 of his career-high 31 points in that third quarter and dished 7 assists. Nikos Papas was the only other Panathinaikos player in double figures with 11 points.

Dejan Musli scored Brose's first 7 points, before runners from Wright and Olinde made it 11-7. Calathes scored from close range, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo had an alley-oop dunk. Kenny Gabriel's baseline jumper tied it at 15-15, but the hosts finished the quarter on an 8-2 run with Rubit sinking a jumper to end the first quarter leading 23-17. Similar to what Musli did to start the first quarter, Rubit did in the second, scoring 7 points before Ricky Hickman's three-point play helped Brose opened 35-23 lead. Antetokounmpo scored inside and Calathes from outside for Panathinaikos, but the hosts nonetheless lengthened their lead to 42-32 at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, Panathinaikos turned to a zone defense and Calathes took over offensively. His pair of runners helped trim the deficit to 46-40. Olinde had a dunk for Brose, but Pappas hit a triple and Chris Singleton made a three-point play for the visitors. Two more runners by Calathes suddenly gave Panathinaikos an 48-50 lead. Lo soon hit Brose's first triple of the night and Calathes had one for the visitors to tie it at 55-55. However, Rubit scored inside to close the third quarter, and then Wright struck from outside to open the fourth. Rubit drove the baseline and Daniel Hackett spun in the lane for a three-point play, re-establishing a double-digit lead, 65-55. Rubit's triple increased the margin, and despite 4 points by Calathes, Brose climbed ahead 74-16 as Wright hit another three and Rubit took it inside midway through the fourth quarter. Another triple from Wright helped increase the margin to 18 points, 82-64, and Brose was not going to let that lead slip away in the final 3:30 of the night. The margin broke the 20-point barrier with 3 minutes to go and Brose celebrated a big win that keeps it in the playoff race.