Huge Panathinaikos comeback stuns Zvezda, 75-66

Panathinaikos Athens overturned a 16-point deficit with a huge second half performance to down Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 75-66 on Friday night. The Greens ended a six-game losing run in the process and improved to 9-19, while Zvezda fell to 12-16.
Zvezda took early control to establish a double-digit lead, which was maintained through most of the second quarter for a 29-42 halftime lead. Panathinaikos roared back to go ahead with a 22-2 run, and the momentum never changed after that. Georgios Papagiannis led the way with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Derrick Williams scored 13 points and Matt Thomas added 11. Nemanja Nedovic and Filip Petrusev scored 12 apiece for Zvezda.
Game Videos
Ognjen Dobric scored Zvezda’s first 5 points and Ben Bentil also netted twice for a 7-10 lead. Nedovic scored 5 in a 0-10 run, making it 9-17 after 10 minutes.
Nedovic’s second triple helped stretch the lead to double digits, 11-22, before a three-point play by Papagiannis brought Panathinaikos closer, 20-26. Nikola Ivanovic’s three-pointer sparked a 0-7 run, answered by 5 straight points from Williams. Ognjen Kuzmic scored twice to make it 29-42 at the break.
Another Ivanovic triple helped take the lead to 31-46, before Thomas cut the gap with a pair of three-pointers. Papagiannis scored twice before Thomas and Williams hit triples to make it 52-55 with 10 minutes left.
A 7-0 run sent Panathinaikos ahead for the first time, then Williams capped an 8-0 run with a three-point play for a 67-58 lead. With Zvezda’s offense dead, a jumper from Mateusz Ponitka settled the outcome.