CSKA Moscow were the favourite along side Panathinaikos to go all the way this season. And so they did. Last night Russian superclub defeated Maccabi to lift their 6th Euroleague title. It was the 3rd Final in a row for CSKA and 2nd of them which they won.
The game was pretty close in the first half with CSKA leading by only a single point. It promised to be a fight till the last second but Messina and his team had other plans.
In the second half CSKA tightened their defense. Maccabi struggled to find opportunities for a shot and those that they had were not successful. Maccabi down 57-63 after three quarters.
Israeli champions needed to reduce their ooponents’ lead. CSKA Moscow were prepared for that. They were increasing their lead slowly. With 5 minutes remaining till the end the 4th quarter, CSKA were leading in double digits. When Maccabi had to score desperately, CSKA players stayed calm and held on their lead. Final score Maccabi 77-91 CSKA Moscow.
Trajan Langdon was named the MVP of the Final. CSKA’s American guard scored 21 points hitting both of his 2-point shots, 4/5 3-pointers, making 7 rebounds. Langdon collected a total of 33 ranking points.
Ramunas Siskauskas became the 3rd player in the history of Euroleague to win back to back titles with two different teams. Dejan Bodiroga and Sarunas Jasikevicius are the players who made it too.
Maccabi: Will Bynum 23, Esteban Batista 14, Terence Morris 13, Omri Casspi 9, Yotam Halperin 9, David Bluthenthal 5, Nikola Vujcic 2, Alex Garcia 2.
CSKA Moscow: Trajan Langdon 21, John Robert Holden 14, Matjaz Smodis 13, David Andersen 13, Ramunas Siskauskas 13, Theodoros Papaloukas 12, Tomas Van Den Spiegel 3, Marcus Goree 2.
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