Calathes leads Panathinaikos in win over Brose

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens registered its first win of the season by downing visiting Brose Bamberg 93-83 on Thursday night. Nick Calathes matched his career-high with 23 points and Chris Singleton scored all 15 of his points in the second half as Panathinaikos improved to 1-1 on the young season, while Bamberg dropped to 0-2. The Greens trailed for only 40 second in the first-quarter, using 6-of-9 three-point shooting in the first half and then 3 triples early in the second to open an 18-point margin and cruise to victory. Calathes also had 6 assists and 4 rebounds, James Gist and Ian Vougioukas scored 11 apiece, and Luka Lekavicius had 10 in victory. Leon Radosevic and Ricky Hickman scored 19 points each for Brose and were the only visiting players in double figures.

Calathes wasted no time in getting it going, scoring a triple and adding a put-back early on. A pair of baskets from Vougioukas and another three from Calathes opened a 12-8 advantage. Maodo Lo hit a shot with his toes on a three-point arc and then one from well beyond the 6.75-meter line as Bamberg tied it at 15-15, however Calathes was at it again, first assisting Gist for a monster alley-oop slam, then hitting a triple and banking in a runner to give the hosts a 22-15 advantage after 10 minutes. Three-pointers from Aleksej Nikolic and Lucca Steiger got the visitors within 24-23 in the second quarter, but that’s when Zach Auguste sparked Panathinaikos. His two baskets and a blocked shot, followed by triples from Lekavicius and Gist, opened a 38-30 lead. Radosevic made a series of mid-range jumpers from all angles in the second quarter to keep Brose in touch, but a long two from Lekavicius and a three just before the halftime by K.C. Rivers put Panathinaikos up 43-35 at the break.

Panathinaikos extended the lead into double digits right away in the third quarter with a three from Singleton. Baskets from Vougioukas and Calathes from close range, and Marcus Denmon from long range, opened a 57-39 lead. Hickman and Hackett hit three-pointers for the visitors, but Vougioukas and Singleton kept the margin in double figures. Another Hickman three cut it to 65-54, but the hosts went into the final quarter up by 13 points, before a Singleton three, Lekavicius jumper and a three-point play by Nikos Pappas extended the margin to 82-65 midway with five minutes remaining. Despite a large deficit and time running out, the visitors never intended to give up, as Hickman and Steiger hit threes that forced Panathinaikos coach Xavi Pascual to call a timeout. But Gist scored twice inside to not allow Brose to even dream about a comeback.