2009-10Final Four3RD PLACE GAME
May 09, 2010 CET: 18:00
Local time: 18:00 PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY
Trajan Langdon - CSKA Moscow - Final Four Paris 2010_26771

CSKA Moscow beat Partizan Belgrade 90-88

CSKA Moscow finished the 2010 Euroleague Basketball season in third place after holding off Partizan Belgrade 90-88 in a memorable overtime thriller on Sunday at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in the French capital. CSKA was led by its old guard as Trajan Langdon produced a record scoring night and J.R. Holden sank a game-winning three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left in overtime to secure a tough win. Langdon finished with 32 points – setting a club record for points in a Final Four game and ranking seventh all-time. He also climbed to third place on the career Final Four scoring table with 172. Sitting in second on that chart is Holden with 194. The all-time leader is Nikos Gallis with 231 points. Holden finished this game with 12 points. Viktor Khryapa added 17 points, Ramunas Siskauskas scored 13 and Andrey Vorontsevich 10 for the Russian champs. Partizan, which became the first team to lose two overtime games at the same Final Four, got 16 points and 8 rebounds from Lawrence Roberts. Aleks Maric and Dusan Kecman added 15 apiece, Jan Vesely and Bo McCalebb had 12 each and Aleksandar Rasic. McCalebb forced overtime with a coast-to-coast layup in the final seconds of regulation and then Partizan went up 4 in the extra session, but was unable to protect the lead down the stretch and CSKA came from behind for the win.

Both teams struggled to score in the first two minutes until Vesely hit free throws. Langdon downed a triple in transition for CSKA’s first points. Partizan looked to Vesely against Siskauskas in the low post, but it was Langdon that stamped his mark on the game a jumper and soon another shot from downtown in a 7-0 CSKA run that Khryapa capped with a fast break layup. Kecman hit free throws and a follow-up layup by Vesely got Partizan within 10-8. Siskauskas buried a huge triple over Vesely and a red-hot Langdon added free throws to keep CSKA out of trouble, 16-8. Partizan tried twin point guards - Bo McCalebb and Petar Bozic - and brought in Maric to generate double-team situations. Langdon, however, nailed a jumper off a screen to make it a double-digit game. Bozic came back with a three-pointer, Maric leapt to haul in a defensive rebound and McCalebb assisted Vesely on an alley-oop as Partizan found its rhythm. Lawrence Roberts added a triple as Partizan cut the gap to 4. Langdon connected on a pair of free throws and J.R. Holden hit from downtown as CSKA looked to re-open a comfortable lead, but Rasic ended the quarter with a three to bring Partizan within 25-20 after 10 minutes.

Khryapa inside and Dusan Kecman with a tip-in opened the second quarter. Sasha Kaun fed an open Khryapa for a three and Langdon knocked down his third of the night to push the lead to 33-22. Vesely scored twice – the first a two-handed slam off a Kecman assist – to keep Partizan alive, but Langdon remained cool headed with a hot hand as he drained a jumper. Roberts and Vorontsevich traded scores before Kecman sank a jumper to make it 37-32. Vorontsevich followed with a floater only to see McCalebb dart through the CSKA defense for a layup. Langdon went to the well for another jumper, but the game of chase continued as Roberts stuffed in a missed McCalebb shot. Rasic cut the gap to 3 with his second triple and Roberts made it 2 from close range after a Vorontsevich free throw, but Siskauskas came to CSKA’s rescue with a triple. McCalebb assisted Maric for a jam that made it 47-44 at the halftime break.

McCalebb used his speed generate a layup in transition as Partizan got within 1 in the first minutes of the second half. Khryapa answered from the line, but the scoreboard soon showed a 49-49 tie after Roberts drained a three. Maric netted a hook shot and suddenly Partizan was ahead for the first time since the opening minutes. A second Maric bucket inside stretched the lead to 50-53 only to see Siskauskas drain an open three and tie the score. Maric remained a force inside with a third basket on as many Partizan possessions. Langdon got his name back on the scoresheet with 2 free throws only to see Vesely convert an acrobatic score that made it 55-57. Vorontsevich inside and Holden from behind the arc put CKSA back on top. After a timeout, Maric made 2 free throws only to see Langdon do the same when Vesely was called for a technical foul. However a Branislav Djekic layup in transition put Partizan ahead 61-62 after three quarters of action.

Kecman and Holden traded threes in the first minute of quarter No. 4. Kecman then drove for a tough basket and Kaun scored on the offensive glass as the game stayed close. Kaun muscled through Maric to put CSKA on top 68-67. Khryapa downed a soft mid-range jumper to push the lead to 3. Roberts countered from the line to keep it close. Partizan experimented with a zone defense for the first time all night and Nikita Kurbanov punished them with a three-pointer. McCalebb sacrificed his body for a rebound, trying to ignite his team, but instead Holden stripped Vranes. Still the Serbian champs stepped up on defense, stopped CSKA twice and Rasic made a layup to get within 73-71 with under two minutes remaining. Roberts added free throw to make it a 1-point game with 65 seconds to play. Siskauskas gave CSKA a 3-point cushion when he sank 2 free throws at the 26.4-second mark. Kaun fouled out and Maric made it 75-74 from the line 11 seconds later. As CSKA tried to run out the clock, Partizan was forced to foul and sent Langdon to the line with 9.5 seconds remaining. He made both, giving him 27 on the night, and Partizan called timeout to draw up a play. CSKA fouled McCalebb, who drained 2 free throws with 7.7 seconds left, after which CSKA called timeout. Rasic locked up Khryapa as soon as he touched the ball on the inbounds play and he missed the first, giving Partizan an opening. Kecman came off the bench, but the ball went to McCalebb, who drove the length of the floor for a layup to knot the score at 78-78 and send it into overtime.

Kecman opened the bonus session with a three, but baskets became tough to come by. Khryapa needed more than two minutes to make CSKA’s first point of the overtime. Nevertheless, Langdon reached 30 points with a triple that put his team up 1. McCalebb answered back with free throws and Bozic made it 82-86 with a three. Langdon made his 11th and 12th free throws of the night to keep his team alive and Khryapa tied the game with a basket inside plus a foul and put his team ahead 87-86 with the resulting free throw. Rasic sank a jumper with 25.1 to go. CSKA stayed calm, worked the ball and Holden drilled a triple with 2.4 seconds on the clock. After a Partizan timeout, McCalebb pulled up from the top of the key for a game-winning triple, but it was long and CSKA and its fans were able to celebrate a hard-eared victory and third place at the end of the 2010 Euroleague season.

Sunday, May 9, 2010
Frankie Sachs, Paris, Euroleague.net
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Referees: FACCHINI, FABIO; HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; LATISEVS, OLEGS
Attendance: 14768 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234Extra 1
CSKA Moscow2522141712
Partizan Belgrade2024181610
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
CSKA Moscow2547617890
Partizan Belgrade2044627888
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 KURBANOV, NIKITA 17:55 3 0/1 1/2   1   1 2         1   3
8 SMODIS, MATJAZ 4:49                   1       2 1
9 SISKAUSKAS, RAMUNAS 30:47 13 1/2 3/5 2/4 1 1 2 4   1     2 3 14
10 HOLDEN, JR 45:00 12 0/6 4/7     3 3 4 1 1     4 3 9
13 MENSAH-BONSU, POPS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 PONKRASHOV, ANTON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 13:10 10 3/4 0/3 4/6           1     3 3 3
21 LANGDON, TRAJAN 45:00 32 4/6 4/8 12/14 1 2 3 1 3     1 3 10 37
24 KAUN, SASHA 28:07 3 1/2   1/2 1   1 2     1 1 5 5 4
30 SOKOLOV, DMITRY 3:24                         1   -1
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 36:48 17 4/5 1/4 6/9   6 6 3 1 3 1 1 4 5 18
34 PLANINIC, ZORAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           3 2 5     1         4
Totals 225:00 90 13/26 13/29 25/35 7 14 21 16 5 8 2 3 23 31 92
        50% 44.8% 71.4%
Head coach: PASHUTIN, EVGENY
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Partizan Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 ROBERTS, LAWRENCE 37:52 16 2/4 3/5 3/6 2 6 8 2 2 6 1   4 4 16
5 SINOVEC, STEFAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 MCCALEBB, BO 36:42 12 3/9 0/3 6/6   3 3 4 1 1   1 3 6 12
7 KECMAN, DUSAN 28:37 15 2/4 3/5 2/2 4 1 5 3 3 2   1 4 1 16
8 MILOSEVIC, STRAHINJA 4:35         1   1     1     1   -1
10 RASIC, ALEKSANDAR 19:32 10 2/3 2/3   2 1 3 2         1 2 14
19 MITROVIC, ALEKSANDAR 1:04                         1   -1
20 BOZIC, PETAR 17:01 6 0/1 2/4         2   2     5   -2
21 MARIC, ALEKS 24:45 15 4/7   7/10 4 2 6 1   3     3 7 17
24 VESELY, JAN 27:38 12 5/6 0/1 2/2 2 4 6 2   2     5 2 13
31 DJEKIC, BRANISLAV 7:08 2 1/1 0/1     1 1 1   1     2    
33 VRANES, SLAVKO 20:06           4 4       2   3 1 4
Team           2   2           1   1
Totals 225:00 88 19/35 10/22 20/26 17 22 39 17 6 18 3 2 33 23 89
        54.3% 45.5% 76.9%
Head coach: VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

PASHUTIN, EVGENY
CSKA Moscow
"First of all, I will would like to thank my team and CSKA for this win tonight. It is a big, big holiday in Russia today - May 9, Memorial Day and all Russian people are now on the street celebrating. A lot of people died, more than 40 million. For us, it is the most important celebration. Our win today was also for the country and those that fought many years ago. I am proud of the heart we put on the court. We fought until the end and whatever happens, happens, but we won the game.

"Partizan is a great basketball organization and a very well-coaches team. They deserved to be here and were not lucky. With just six second left in the semifinals, they were almost in the final - but this is basketball. Partizan deserved to be in the Final Four and it all depended if a shot went in or not. It has great tradition and organization, the Serbian school is a pwoerhouse in basketball, with a lot of high-level coaches. Dusko Vujosevic did a great job this year - if we compare from the last two season, players like Velickovic or Pekovic left but Partizan prepared well and used good young players. You see former Partizan players all around Europe. It is the same this year. Bo McCalebb, Aleks Maric or Lawrence Roberts are big, big surprises this year. I think Partizan played smart and made it a close game. They played the zone really well, it is not easy to attack. They have size, are huge, control the rebounds and don't allow the other team to run and play fast. We made the difference because we were able to attack in half court game with Langdon, Holden or Khryapa, who did great tonight.

"Trajan is the best shooter in Europe in the last few years, with great hands. If you allow him to shoot, nobody can stop him. We set high-quality screens and prepared position for him. We played less pick-and-roll because Partizan is great at denying it. You are not able to get any advantage, so we set more screens for Holden and Langdon, that showed that they belong to the highest level. I hope that TRajan can continue in the club for many, many years."
VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO
Partizan Belgrade
"Hello everyone. Nobody wants to be in the Third Place game, because that means you have lost the semifinal and missed the opportunity to make to the final. Nobody is happy to play this game. What I consider more important is that both teams played hard to win the third place game. Everyone was motivated from the behinning of the game, CSKA and Partizan. For that, I would like to congratulate CSKA but also my Partizan players. Both teams wanted to win and were highly motivated. The game was perfect but unfortunately we made some mistakes but showed the will to win it. I would like to congratulate CSKA once again for their win and say that we had wonderful teams in the Final Four this seasoon. I think all teams were very talented despite the budget and logistics difference. It is sad, because we would have liked to win this game. We missed the chance to win on Friday and tonight. We saw that Partizan deserved to be in the Final Four, but lacked experience and a little bit of luck. With all that, we could have made it to the final or win a game in this Final Four. I am extremely proud of my players. They have given their best and that they deserved to be in the Final Four."

"As you can see, my players are very honest. They workes a lot and didn't want to lose the game. Yesterday, we had a lot of players - I won't say names - that cried after the game. They were extremely disappointed. We have lost another very close game, so it is even more difficult for my players and for the team. They have strong personalities and will find the motivation to win in the future. It is difficult to see that we lost twice in row, both times in overtime. We showed we are a talented team and hope we can keep our team spirit and motivation in the future. We will have more stability and results will be better. Partizan will continue to work hard and be a tough opponent in all competitions. I hope Partizan becomes a winning, helathy team, with better finances to keep our best players - and have even better ones next year."

Players

VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY
CSKA Moscow
"This game was very important because after we lost to Barcelona, we needed this. That loss was very difficult. So we needed to stay focused and we did that today. Congratulations to all of us. Congratulations to our fans, who we thank for coming. Now we must finish the Russian League strong and then go to holiday."
SISKAUSKAS, RAMUNAS
CSKA Moscow
"It was a very fun game, what can I say? Both teams wanted to win even though we were both very tired, but we finished it. Now we have to go to the Russian League and win it. The Final Four is over for us so we have to focus on the Russian League playoffs that start in a few days."
KHRYAPA, VICTOR
CSKA Moscow
"It was tough like we expected. Partizan played a great game today, also. They lost a tough one in the semifinals, so it was tough today for both of us, but we got the win. For sure, this one is for the fans who came all the way here. It's for the fans, family and everyone who supported us."
LANGDON, TRAJAN
CSKA Moscow
"It's important for us because we needed a win going into the Russian playoffs. It was an important test for us. We played a tough semifinal against Barcelona. I thought we played well in that game, too, but we just didn't make the plays at the right time that they made. So today we faced a very good Partizan team. We had to play 45 minutes but we pulled it out in the end. They are a huge team at every position and have many good options. They run good players in and out, and they made it difficult on us. They are a good team. They showed it all year by playing the best teams really well. They are one Josh Childress dunk away from being in the final today. It's a very good team that plays well together and is well coached."
KECMAN, DUSAN
Partizan Belgrade
"If someone had told me before the season that we make the Final Four finish 4th in the Euroleague I would think he's crazy. Our goal was to make the Top 16 first and now that we came here we're honored. I hope we'll learn from this loss as well so we won't make the same mistakes. We still have to win the Serbian league and must stay focus. We wanted to win at least one game in the Final Four, and we had a chance but just like two days ago we weren't focused enough and left Holden totally open for a shot."
MCCALEBB, BO
Partizan Belgrade
"We did a great job in staying close to CSKA and I believe we had a chance to win, but we made small mistakes that allowed them to win. We fought, fought and fought and that's the best you can do on a basketball court. We're proud of us achievement and want to thank our fans for the great support this season and also here in the Final Four in Paris. They have been nothing but great."
BOZIC, PETAR
Partizan Belgrade
"I can't be happy after we lose a game. We came here with a big will to win, but we lost both games in a small margin. It makes me proud of us and the way we made all season, but obviously disappointed. It's true that we won a lot of close games this year and had some luck, but I don't think that luck wasn't on our side this time, or that luck evens out. We made some mistakes that cost us the game, and hopefully we'll learn from that."
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