Olimpia’s effort, at both ends of the floor, stopped to be the key facytor of the night. The outstanding first-half defensive performance, holding Panathinaikos to 30 points, building a 15-point margin, didn’t last. Panathinaikos won 80-77, scoring 50 points in the second half. Olimpia gradually lost control of the game, lost the lead for the first time with 72 seconds left in the game, responded with a mid-range jumper by Shavon Shields, but couldn’t make the last couple of stops necessary to win the game. The last attempt was a very contested fadeaway by Shields again that couldn’t find the net. With no Sergio Rodriguez, stopped by a last-minute injury, Olimpia struggled at shooting, executed well in the first half, but not in the second. “We stopped the ball too much and against a team with phisycality and size that’s no way to be effective. Our defensive game was very good in the first half, but not in the second, so when they came close then they were able to finish the job. They struggled at shooting, but in the end a couple of three-pointers proved to be decisive. On top of that we let them get some offensive rebounds over our heads,” Coach Ettore Messina said. Malcolm Delaney led the team in the first half and finished with 14 points, but with no back-up he had to pace himself. Kevin Punter led all the scorers with 16 points. Olimpia had some brilliance occasionally with other players, particularly Kyle Hines in the second half, Zach LeDay in spurts, but the efficiency stuttered and in the end Panathinaikos was better.