Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Euroleague season came to an end as the yellow-and-blue fell to Panathinaikos 81-72 in game 5 of their quarterfinal series. Head Coach Oded Katash’s squad played Ergin Ataman’s team neck-and-neck throughout the contest but in the final frame the hosts cheered on by over 25,000 fans packed into the OAKA Arena were able wear out the visitors as Kendrick Nunn scored key baskets to hand the hosts the win.

Nunn scored 26 points, Kostas Sloukas added 15 points and Juancho Hernangomez chipped in with 11 points in the win. Lorenzo Brown scored 19 points and Josh Nebo added 14 points in the loss.

“I want to say that I am really proud of the players, for me, this group of guys are really champions,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “Even though we didn’t qualify for the Final 4 they are real champions. Coming into this game we knew it wasn’t going to be easy but there were some things behind basketball and I wish this series would have been decided by the players and basketball.

“We never talked about referees throughout the series even though our opponents did. Maybe we should. There is no way in game five, very physical game from both sides and I take out the last four shots of Lorenzo Brown, it was 35-6 in free throws. Maybe it’s a coincidence but that’s a crazy number and it makes me feel a little bit embarrassed and sorry for the players. They really deserved it. We as a club the whole series, players, coaches we had more respect to basketball and to the Euroleague than some of the people who were on the court tonight.”

“I am proud of my players and the fans, the entire club who believed in me and in us,” Panathianikos Head Coach Ergin Ataman said. “All the respect for Maccabi team and players who made a great players and pushed the game to the last five minutes. We found a way to win and i explained after the first game that if I don’t go to the Final 4 I won’t be here at Panathinaikos next year.”

Mathias Lessort scored for Panathinaikos and Jake Cohen answered for Maccabi Tel Aviv to get game five underway, John Dibartolomeo went from deep, Kostas Sloukas scored at the hoop, but buckets by Josh Nebo and Lorenzo Brown gave the yellow-and-blue a 9-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Ioannis Papapetrou went from downtown, Nebo and Cohen scored inside, Kendrick Nunn dialed up from long distance, Dibartolomeo did the same, Jerian Grant also went from beyond the arc, Juancho Hernangomez found points off the glass, Sloukas scored as well to cut the Maccabi lead to 21-19 after ten minutes of play.

Nunn and Tamir Blatt traded triples to begin the second quarter, Jasiel Rivero and Nebo scored inside, Nunn hit a jumper, Brown did the same and Sloukas went from deep to give Panathinaikos a 32-30 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Nebo came flying in to clean up a miss, Antonius Cleveland scored, James Webb went from long distance, Rivero came in with a deuce, Sloukas and Papapetrou came back with points as the game was all knotted up at 41-41 at halftime.

Brown and Papepetrou scored for their respective teams to begin the third quarter, Bonzie Colson went from deep, Nunn did the same while Sloukas and Dibartolomeo traded triples to keep the game tied up at 49-49 midway through the period. Nebo put in points, Hernangomez went from way downtown, Blatt drilled home a 3-pointer but Panathinaikos snatched a 2-point, 58-56 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Panagiotis Kalaitzakis started the fourth quarter with points, Nunn went from deep, Brown came back with a deuce, Blatt drilled home a triple, so did Nunn, Brown dialed up for a pair from long distance, Lessort scored two buckets inside, Nunn went from downtown yet again to close out the win and knock out Maccabi.