Last-place Dinamo Moscow upset reigning European club champion, Panathinaikos Athens 88-81 in an emotional game to start the second round in the inaugural Euroleague competition.


Dinamo led for most of the game holding off the Greeks in the last minute when Panathinaikos cut the lead to four points through the Fragiskos Alvertis, the games highest scorer with 27 points.


The victory was only the third in 11 Euro games for the Muscovites and they remain at the bottom of their group, having lost all the chances of going into the next round. The Greeks, despite a surprising loss in Moscow, still lead the table with eight wins.


Thursday's win came only a few weeks after Dinamo players and its coach threatened to boycott the remaining games in a final effort to force its owners to honor their contract obligations.


"We haven't received any payments for five months," said starting forward Dmitry Shakulin at the time, "and I don't think it's going to get any better."


"The situation hasn't changed much," said Igor Grachev, who has a wife and a small child to support. "The management offered us new contracts which are only a fraction of the previous ones. They also said they will pay back what they owed us, starting Jan. 15, so we'll just have to wait and see."


(For other results, see Scorecard.)