BELGRADE, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Serbian champion Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) outplayed Greek Panathinaikos 78-73 in a match full of turnarounds on Wednesday in Belgrade in the 23rd round of the basketball Euroleague.
Greek champion started the match with fast attacks and tight defense and manage to grab on to a 12-point lead in the first quarter.
The home team, cheered by around 13,000 fans at the Belgrade Arena, and spearheaded by Kevin Punter and Michael Ojo managed to not only to catch up Panathinaikos at the halftime, but to turn the match around and earn 3-point advantage (35-32).
In the second half, the Greek champion team managed to take over again and expand the lead thanks to a scoring series of Jimmer Fredette and Deshaun Thomas - to an advantage of 11 points before the final period.
However, Crvena Zvezda took back the initiative in the fourth quarter thanks to field goals of Vladimir Stimac and Stratos Perperoglou.
Perperoglou annulled Panathinaikos lead just five minutes left in the match with a three-pointer (65-65), while Stimac expanded it further with a free-throw and a slam-dunk.
Billy Baron and Kevin Punter sealed Crvena Zvezda's victory with rounds of precise free-throws.
Punter was most efficient in the Crvena Zvezda ranks with 24 points, while Thomas scored 12 points for Panathinaikos.
With 10 more games to play in the regular season, Crvena Zvezda (10th) is looking for a way to climb among top eight teams that will compete in the quarterfinals, while Panathinaikos remains safely at 6th place.
Both Crvena Zvezda and Panathinaikos will have Russian adversaries in next round - first will play against Khimki in Moscow, and second at home against Zenit.
