Football
Associated Press 17y

CSKA Moscow looks to defend title at Euro Final Four

ATHENS, Greece -- Defending champion CSKA Moscow will play
Panathinaikos in the championship game of the Euroleague Final Four
on Sunday.

CSKA used a 14-0 run late in the early semifinal Friday to beat
first-timer Unicaja Malaga 62-50 in the lowest-scoring Final Four
game in a decade, and Panathinaikos defeated Tau Ceramica 67-53 in
the second game.

"I think we won the game because we played excellent defense,"
CSKA coach Ettore Messina said. "Mentally, this has been a
tremendous accomplishment."

CSKA will try to win consecutive titles for the first time in
the club's history. It's in a record-breaking fifth straight Final
Four, and has won titles in 1961, '63, '69 and '71.

Center David Andersen began CSKA's late rally with a short
jumper and added two more to have six points in the run. Trajan
Langdon, an American guard who led CSKA with 13 points, added a key
three-point play and a 3-pointer.

Andersen finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and
Theodoros Papaloukas added 11 points and five steals.

Carlos Cabezas led Unicaja with 13, but did not score after
getting cut in the face on the layup that tied the game at 41. He
was the only Unicaja player in double figures.

Panathinaikos is seeking its fourth title.

Wildly cheered by 18,000 fans in Athens Olympic Hall,
Panathinaikos went on an 8-0 run late in the first quarter, taking
an 18-9 lead and never looking back.

Three-pointers by Milos Vujanic, Sani Becirovic and Ramunas
Siskauskas helped Panathinaikos open a 35-21 halftime lead.

The Greek team shot 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first
half, while Tau made only 1 of 9 attempts.

Becirovic went 4-for-4 from the floor, including two 3-pointers.
One free throw was his only miss in the first half.

A free throw by Michael Batiste made it 45-30 with less than two
minutes left in the third quarter, Panathinaikos' biggest lead of
the game.

Tau got as close as six several times in the final quarter, but
Vujanic sank 3-pointer to make it 61-51 and secure the game with
1:41 left.

Becirovic and Batiste led Panathinaikos with 15 points each and
Batiste added 12 rebounds.

Serkan Erdogan led Tau with 11 points.

Luis Scola and Igor Rakocevic, Tau's leading scorers, had only
10 points between them.

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