Panathinaikos hands Olympiacos first loss

The Greek A1 league had one of its most interesting and important games of the 2016-17 regular season. League leader, Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of no less than league rivals Panathinaikos Athens. Both are now 14-1 making it a tight race for the league leadership. Trailing both clubs is AEK Athens (12-3) which is two games behind and is a legitimate contender for that coveted spot as well.

Olympiacos started this game out strong and even commanded an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Panathinaikos responded in kind and by the halftime break, they took control of the game and secured a three-point lead. The game would boil down to the fourth and final quarter. Panathinaikos stepped up their defense and pulled away from there. Olympiacos controlled the glass, but their turnovers were just too much of a swing in favor of their hosts and it ended being their downfall.

K.C. Rivers and Chris Singleton teamed up for Panathinaikos and torched their guests from downtown. They combined for 10 of Panathinaikos’ 12 shots from three-point land. Rivers poured in a game-high 26 points, while Singleton added 20 markers of his own.

Georgios Printezis led Olympiacos with 14 points and six rebounds.