Panathinaikos takes top spot in Greek A1 league

There is a new top dog in Greece’s A1 league: Panathinaikos Athens, with a 13-1 record, is now number one in the standings and they achieved it in style. The red shirts took down no less then Greek superpower Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus (12-2), the league’s former leader. In what ended up as a low-scoring grinder of a game, Panathinaikos triumphed, 58-48. The loss ends the Green and White’s two-game winning streak in the domestic league. Olympiacos is still heavily favored to be one of the teams to move on in the ongoing Turkish Airlines Euroleague, but for now, they will have to take a back seat at home.

Panathinaikos established a firm hold of the game from the get-go as Olympiacos struggled to get their offense on track. Panathinaikos ended the first period with a five-point advantage, 17-12. Olympiacos mounted a rally and closed the gap to just two markers by the end of the first half, 25-27. Panathinaikos did not allow their opponents to tie up the game and just pulled away in the fourth frame, outscoring them 17-11.

Only Matt Lojeski was able to reach double-digit scoring for Olympiacos with 10 points and eight rebounds. Bryant Dunston and Georgios Printezis added eight points apiece.

Ramel Curry led all scorers for Panathinaikos with 12 points. He was also on point when it came to defense as he came away with four steals for the game. James Gist and Dmitris Diamantidis chipped in 10 points each in the winning effort.

Here are the rest of the results of Round 14 of the Greek A1 regular season:

Ikaros vs. AGOR, 89-78

Kolossos vs. PAOK, 62-49

Panionios vs. Panelefsiniakos, 92-70

Aris vs. KAOD, 77-59

Nea Kifisia vs. Trikalla, 97-85

Ilysiakos vs. Apollon Patras, 67-76