Panathinaikos locked at least second place
in Group B and kept its chances to finish first by downing Zalgiris
59-94 in Kaunas, Lithuania on Wednesday. Panathinaikos improved to 6-2
in Group B and visits undefeated leader CSKA Moscow next week in a
high-profile showdown.
Zalgiris dropped to 2-6 and faces a critical game
against Brose Baskets in Bamberg, Germany next week. Steven Smith and
Nick Calathes paced the winners with 17 points apiece. Mike Batiste
added 13 for Panathinaikos. Sonny Weems led Zalgiris with 16 points and
12 rebounds.Marko Popovic added 14 points for the hosts. Zalgiris led for the best part of the first quarter but a layup by Ian Vougioukas gave Panathinaikos a 14-15 lead after 10 minutes. Mantas Kalnietis took over with a driving basket early in the second quarter. Panathinaikos, however, held the hosts scoreless for 7 minutes, making Zalgiris miss 9 shots and pick up 6 turnovers. Meanwhile, Calathes, Batiste and Smith fueled a 1-24 run that broke the game open, 19-41, at halftime. Panathinaikos boosted its margin to 31-63 late in third quarter and never looked back.
