Panathinaikos beats Rhodes Colossus 78-73 in GBL, Rogavopoulos returns with 14 points

The result

Panathinaikos AKTOR beat Colossus Rhodes 78-73 at the Telekom Center Athens in round 7 of the Stoiximan GBL on Sunday, 15 November. Sources describe the win as comfortable despite the narrow final margin, with the hosts controlling most of the game. Panathinaikos moved to 6-1 and Colossus fell to 3-4, after its third consecutive away defeat.

Rotation and returns

Željko Obradović spread minutes widely, and Nikos Rogkavopoulos returned from injury with 14 points in 22 minutes and 39 seconds. Kendrick Nunn scored 11 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Kostas Sloukas finished with 6 points and 7 assists. Sources note that Matias Lessort and Branko Bandić were left out of the foreign players' allowance, and Nigel Hayes-Davis played only 12 minutes and 23 seconds.

How the game unfolded

Panathinaikos opened with Moraitis, Sloukas, Bonga, Huanchu and Mitoglou in the starting five, and a few defensive lapses prompted an early timeout at 4:30 of the first quarter with the score at 8-10. The hosts closed the first quarter ahead 26-15, then built a lead of 19 points (41-22) in the second quarter. Colossus responded with an 11-0 run, led by Tsiakmas, and trimmed the gap to 41-33 before the break, which Panathinaikos took leading 45-35.

The third and fourth quarters

The hosts kept a double-digit margin through the third quarter, reaching 66-48 by the 30th minute. Colossus opened the final period with a 7-0 run and cut the deficit to 66-55 shortly before the 32nd minute, and finished the game on a 12-25 spurt in the closing stretch. Sources note the final score does not fully reflect how far ahead Panathinaikos was for most of the match.

What comes next

Panathinaikos now turns to a demanding EuroLeague stretch with two away games. It faces Virtus Bologna in Bologna on 17 November at 22:00 and Zalgiris Kaunas in Kaunas on 19 November at 20:00. Colossus Rhodes hosts Ganea in round 7 of the Europe Cup.