In a thriller that literally went to the final second, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens finished the Regular Season in style by rallying to edge Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 59-62 at Sinan Erdem Dome on Friday night.
Macon gives Panathinaikos win at Fenerbahce, 59-62
It was the Greens' final game in the 2021-22 campaign, finishing with a 9-19 record as Fenerbahce dropped to 10-17. Ioannis Papapetrou led the winners with 21 points. Georgios Papagiannis added 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks while Daryl Macon had 12 points, including the game-winning triple with 1.0 seconds left. Jan Vesely led Fenerbahce with 20 points while Pierria Henry added 16. Papapetrou and Jeremy Evans helped Panathinaikos get a 20-22 lead after 10 minutes. Papapetrou kept pacing the Greens for the lead, 32-28, at halftime. Vesely rescued Fenerbahce after the break, fueling a 14-0 run that gave his team a 51-44 lead early in the fourth quarter. But Papagiannis and Papapetrou brought Panathinaikos back and Macon's three-pointer gave the Greens a big win.
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Henry got Fenerbahce going with a three-pointer and Vesely matched Papagiannis's jumper with a layup for a 5-2 lead. Papapetrou and Henry exchanged layups, then Howard Sant-Roos struck from downtown to tie it at 7-7. Papapetrou fed Papagiannis for a dunk and nailed a three-pointer in a 0-10 run that Okaro White capped with a jumper for a 7-14 Panathinaikos lead. Vesely scored in penetration and DyShawn Pierre took over with a three-point play, but Evans followed a backdoor layup with a put-back slam for a 12-18 score. Henry struck from beyond the arc and followed Achille Polonara's triple with a buzzer-beating basket, bringing the hosts within 20-22 after 10 minutes.
Papapetrou sparked Panathinaikos with a three-point play early in the second quarter, and then erased Polonara's triple with his own shot from downtown. Vesely dunked off a steal, Eleftherios Bochoridis answered with a driving layup and a red hot Papapetrou buried a baseline jumper for a 25-32 Panathinaikos lead. Vesely kept pacing the hosts with an alley-oop dunk and matched Papapetrou's jumper with a fastbreak slam, keeping Fenerbahce within 29-34. Henry stepped up with a driving layup and Vesely got the hosts even closer, before Macon secured a 32-38 Panathinaikos lead at halftime.
Vesely ignited the crowd with an off-balance jumper soon after the break, as Panathinaikos struggled to score for more than 3 minutes until Papagiannis stepped up with an alley-oop slam. Evans buried a jumper that Pierre bettered with a bomb from downtown for a 37-42 score. Papapetrou hit a running hook but Vesely singlehandedly got Fenerbahce closer, 41-44. Melih Mahmutoglou found his first points to make the Greens call timeout at 43-44. Vesely completed Fenerbahce's comeback with an alley-oop tip-in, getting help from Henry and Sehmus Hazer to boost the hosts' margin to 49-44 after 30 minutes,
Jehyve Floyd took over with a put-back slam that capped a 14-0 Fenerbahce run early in the fourth. Papagiannis silenced the crowd with a huge dunk in traffic and Macon gave Panathinaikos hope, 51-48, with over 8 minutes left. Pierre downed a corner triple which Floyd followed with a layup for a 56-48 Fenerbahce lead. Macon kept pacing the Greens and Papapetrou brought his team within 56-53. Henry scored off a steal but Papagiannis followed free throws with a put-back slam, and Papapetrou sank a jumper that put Panathinaikos ahead, 58-59, with 1:20 left. Vesely split foul shots and Macon buried a huge three-pointer with 1.0 seconds remaining. Fenerbahce called timeout but Mahmutoglou missed from downtown at the buzzer.