


ALBA Berlin struck early and late on the road to take a hard-fought 84-88 win over host Panathinaikos Athens in the next-to-last game of the EuroLeague season two teams already eliminated from the playoffs race. Maodo Lo and Luke Sikma scored 4 points and Yanni Wetzell added insurance free throws as ALBA finished the game with a 1-10 run over the last 3 minutes. The visitors raised their record to 10-23 while Panathinaikos fell to 11-22.
Jaleen Smith led the winners with 14 points while Lo added 14, Johannes Thiemann 11 and Yovel Zoosman 10. Dwayne Bacon had 14 of his 16 points after halftime for Panathinaikos, but his late game-winning attempt missed. Marius Grigonis added 15 points, Georgios Papagiannis 13 and Paris Lee 12 for the Greens.
After Lee scored from the opening tip, ALBA reeled off the next 12 points as Smith his a pair of triples. Derrick Williams willed Panathinaikos back within 11-14, but ALBA surged again to lead 17-25 after 10 minutes with seven players in the scoring column already. Christ Koumadje played just 3 minutes of the game in the second quarter, but was worth 7 points and a high ALBA lead of 20-34. Grigonis and Arturas Gudaitis brought Panathinaikos back from there, sharing 15 points in 7 minutes as the hosts pulled closer, 49-42, at the half.
Bacon came alive after the break with 3 tough baskets in a row and eventually fed Williams for a layup that tied the score, 54-54. A total of 10 lead changes after that would carry the game to the finish, and Bacon's triple and layup put the Greens up 68-63 before Lo beat the third-quarter buzzer with a triple. Back and forth they went on the scoreboard into the final quarter, with Thiemann, Zoosman and Louis Olinde coming up with big baskets for ALBA, while Papagiannis and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis did the same for the Greens, who led 83-78 with 3:37 left. Panathinaikos would scored just 1 free throw after that as Sikma's 4 points in a row started the final turnaround and Lo finished it.