The second stage of the Euroleague season lifted off Wednesday with four clashes, three of them featuring big statement wins and another going to the wire. The action began with a Group E clash of national champions in the Lithuanian capital where Panathinaikos beat Lietuvos Rytas 59-80. Mike Batiste poured in a season-high 26 points to lead the Greens, who pulled away with a Kostas Tsartsaris-led 0-12 run in the third quarter. Group G was the only one to see all four teams in action on Wednesday. First Efes Pilsen edged Montepaschi Siena 60-58 on a game that wasn’t decided until Nikos Zisis’s potential game-winning three at the buzzer bounced out. Igor Rakocevic paced Efes with 17 points and Bootsy Thornton added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Later Sergio Llull scored a Euroleague career-high 21 points and Clay Tucker added 18 as Real Madrid downed Partizan mt:s 78-58.