AFP Photo / Dmitry Kostyokov
To Berlin! CSKA first to reach Euroleague Final Four
Published 01 April, 2009, 12:17
In Euroleague basketball CSKA Moscow have beaten Partizan in game three of their quarterfinals to sweep the series and become the first team to make it to the Final Four.
Ramunas Shishkauskas and Matjaz Smodish set the pace for CSKA, scoring 20 and 18 points respectively.
67-56 was the final score of game three in Belgrade, making it the seventh time in as many years the Red-and-Blues have made it to the semi-finals of this competition.
The result means CSKA now have a chance to defend their title at the Final Four in Berlin in May, and possibly collect their seventh Euroleague crown – the third in four seasons.
Also in Euroleague quarterfinals, Real Madrid's hopes of progressing are still alive after they beat Olympiacos 71-63 in front of a sold-out crowd in the Spanish capital.
Olympiacos, however, hold a 2-1 lead and need just one more win to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1999.
Their cross-town rivals, Panathinaikos, also moved to within one win of returning to the Final Four for the first time since winning the Euroleague in 2007. They beat Montepaschi Siena 72-53 in Italy.
The defeat ended the Italians’ 14-game home-court winning streak.
Meanwhile, Tau Ceramica lead 2-1 in their series against Barcelona, who clearly missed injured playmaker Juan Carlos Navarro and lost game three away from home.
Nonetheless, Tau can still clinch their fifth consecutive Final Four appearance when they host game four on Thursday.
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