Panathinaikos registered its first win in group D by edging Partizan Igokea 67:65 at the Athens Indoor Olympic Hall on Wednesday night. Panathinaikos is now tied with Efes Pilsen for second place in Group B, both with a 1-1 record. Partizan is one win behind them at 0-2.
Mike Batista hit free throws and had a key block on Milenko Tepic to win it for the Greens in the final 19.5 seconds. Dušan Kecman had 13 points to lead Partizan, Milton Palacio 11 and Čedomir Vitkovac 10. Kecman shined early while a three-pointer by Petar Božič and a final basket by Uroš Tripković gave Partizan a 21-23 edge after 10 minutes. Free throws by Nikola Peković gave the guests a 25-34 edge midway through the second quarter but Spanoulis brought Panathinaikos within 34-40 at halftime. Vitkovac and an outstanding Kecman gave Partizan its biggest margin, 41-56, late in the third quarter, as everyone at OAKA had already started to wonder. Spanoulis and Sani Bečirović fueled the Greens' comeback while a corner triple by Nikos Hatzivrettas gave Panathinaikos a 65-63 edge with two minutes to go. Vitkovac and Novica Veličković tied the game with foul shots. Batiste gave the Greens the lead with 17.5 seconds to go and had a big block on Tepić. Partizan got the ball back with 1.9 seconds remaining but could not get a shot down the stretch.
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