Barcelona are the first team through to the 2014 Euroleague Final Four after they beat Galatasaray 78-75 in Istanbul to sweep the series 3-0.
Carlos Arroyo’s return to the line-up inspired the hosts in the first half as Galatasaray led 40-35 at the half. But Marcelinho Huertas led the Barca fightback in the third quarter as they led 53-52 heading into the fourth quarter and despite a last burst from the Turkish side, Brad Oleson put the game to bed with 9.1 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws.
“We’re very pleased with this accomplishment,” Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual said. “This is our fifth Final Four in six years. I want to congratulate my team for this performance. They had a good night. Also it was an excellent game for the fans. It was a close game at the end and both teams could have win. We defended well in the last positions and qualified to the Final Four.”
Huertas led Barcelona led 16 points as they were missing Juan Carlos Navarro due to a hamstring injury. Arroyo led all scorers for Galatasaray with 21.
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Reigning Euroleague champions Olympiacos kept their quarter-final tie alive by beating Real Madrid 78-76 in Greece, but the Greeks still trail in the series 2-1.
Bryant Dunston led the Reds with 21 points, supported by Vassilis Spanoulis’ 17 as Kostas Sloukas drained two free throws with six seconds remaining to seal the win. Real Madrid had led by one with 40 seconds left when Georgios Printezis had a clutch three to send the Peace and Friendship Stadium into a frenzy.
Sergio Rodriguez had 19 to lead the Liga Endesa leaders.
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Like their rivals, Panathinaikos kept their Euroleague Final Four hopes alive by beating CSKA Moscow 65-59 in Athens’ Olympic Hall, but they still trail the Russian champions 2-1 overall.
Stephane Lasme led the hosts with 13 points in a game where Dimitris Diamantidis passed Theo Papaloukas’ all-time Euroleague assists record with 978 total.
“We took the series to Game 4 and still have our chances to advance to the Final Four,” Panathinaikos coach Fragkiskos Alvertis said. “The first half was good for us. We had some problems on offence in the second half but our defence was there to help us win. Now we look ahead at the next game. We have games every two days and must learn from each of the previous ones.”
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Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv took a massive step by beating EA7 Milano 75-63 and are now a game away from going to their first Final Four since 2011.
The Israelis took control in the second quarter and extended their cushion further in the third quarter to seal the win. David Blu led Maccabi with 16 points.
“It feels great to be back home,” admitted Maccabi coach David Blatt. “The crowd was wonderful. We came out very well because we knew we had to. Milan is a very strong team. We know this and we felt this. And we had to be close to the top [level] to win today. Now, to look forward – and we are already looking forward in order to win on Wednesday – we need to be the best that we can.”
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