Singleton stars as Greens down Maccabi in overtime

In a thrilling Game of the Week containing dramatic swings in momentum, Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens claimed an 83-75 overtime win over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv at the Olympic Sports Center Athens. The Greens rode a huge performance from Chris Singleton, who scored a career-high 26 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and blocked 2 shots in a dominant display. Singleton received plenty of help from Nick Calathes, who led the offense with 13 points and 6 assists, while James Gist combined 12 points with 8 rebounds. Sonny Weems led the Maccabi attack with 15 points and Devin Smith had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Andrew Goudelock added 14 points and Maik Zirbes 11 for the visitors.

Panathinaikos scored the game’s first 7 points and held on to a steady lead throughout the first three and a half quarters, with Calathes and Singleton always providing an answer every time Maccabi threatened to get close. The home team led by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter and the game appeared almost over when it was 64-52 with less than six minutes remaining. But Maccabi then launched an astonishing comeback with a 0-15 run to lead by 3 inside the final minute, before Gist’s tip-in with 9 seconds on the clock forced overtime – Panathinaikos’s second consecutive game to go into bonus time. The Greens hit 3 triples early in the extra period to re-establish control and a big block by Singleton helped snuff out any chance of another Maccabi comeback.