EuroLeague - Pana seal fifth EuroLeague title

Eurosport - Sun, 03 May 22:26:00 2009

Greek side Panathinaikos beat holders CSKA Moscow 73-71 in a thrilling final to win the EuroLeague title for the fifth time.

BASKETBALL 2008-2009 Euroleague Panathinaikos Vassilis Spanoulis - 0

The Greeks survived a second-half comeback by the Russians after leading by 23 points early in the third quarter, only to see them close in to just a point 10 seconds from time.

Vassilis Spanoulis and Antonis Fotsis led Pana's scoring with 13 points and J.R. Holden got 14 for CSKA.

"When everyone at half-time was saying 'you are playing fantastic' I told my players that it does not matter as long as you win by one point," Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic, who has now won the trophy seven times with four different teams, said.

"We deserved to win the game earlier but these things happen. Many strange things happened in the second half."

The Russians started well, going into a 10-4 lead with Holden dictating the pace. But five consecutive points by Spanoulis and another two by Drew Nicholas put the Greeks ahead.

The Greeks, who also beat CSKA by a basket to win it in 2007, then hit six consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter as the stunned Russians went into the halftime with a 20-point deficit.

Lithuanian guard Sarunas Jasikevicius added another just after the break to make it 51-28 before CSKA, winners twice since 2006, started chipping away at the lead.

A steely defence and seven points by Trajan Landon added pressure on Panathinaikos who were now missing open shots.

By the start of the fourth quarter CSKA narrowed the deficit to just 10 points before a Ramunas Siskauskas three-pointer and a Holden lay-up cut the lead to just five, three minutes from time.

But Siskauskas missed the last three-point attempt a second from time for Panathinaikos to hold on to victory.

"The second half, we managed to keep our starters on the court for a longer time, played with great heart and forced the game to be decided in the end by a couple of details," CSKA coach Ettore Messina said.

Earlier, Barcelona won the third place playoff 95-79 against Olympiakos Piraeus.

Reuters

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  1. panathinaikos number one in europe for­ ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From ?????????, on Mon 4 May 7:39PM

  2. Panathinaikos The Emperor of European Basketball. he­ even beat the referees who were disgusting!!

    From , on Mon 4 May 5:30PM

  3. Panathinaikos is on the throne again !! The Best­ European team definitely in the last 10 years. Stable­ administration, same coach and winner philosophy in the­ game. Unique ability of Obradovic to combine all the­ great personality players into one team, one family !!

    From George K, on Mon 4 May 4:43PM

  4. Panathinaikos is the best

    From snif890, on Mon 4 May 3:13PM

  5. P-A-N-A-T-H-I-N-A-I-K-O-S

    From Antonis, on Mon 4 May 9:51AM

  6. We are the best team of Europe !!!! (Panathinaikos i­ mean :) )

    From tonispatman, on Mon 4 May 9:34AM

  7. FORZA PAO, EUROPEAN CHAMPION!!!

    From andreak8, on Mon 4 May 9:32AM

  8. Empire strikes back! The Green Glory of Greece has done­ it again!Panatha, you are magic! Obradovic, real­ maestro!!!

    From stavrinos2001, on Mon 4 May 8:37AM

  9. Obradovic!!!!!!
    7­ titles!!!!!!!!
    Respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!

    From markodmc01, on Mon 4 May 12:45AM

  10. GLORY TO PANATHINAIKOS! Another title for this great­ team.

    From AJ, on Sun 3 May 11:12PM
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