By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ — CSKA Moscow was trailing most of the game but stayed close and eventually turned things around led by Nando De Colo’s great second half to grab a 95-90 win over Real Madrid. They advanced to the Turkish Airlines Final where they will clash with Anadolu Efes on Sunday (19/5).
CSKA took over the lead (87-85) after De Colo’s triple with 1:19 left. He also banked two free throws (89-85) and despite Sergio Llull’s triple (91-90), CSKA stayed calm at the free throw line and with strong defense secured the win.
De Colo scored 23 points with 19 of those coming in the second half. Sergio Rodriguez scored 23 as well while Will Clyburn added 18 points.
For Real, Fabien Causeur had a great night with 18 points (6-7 FG) in addition to Llull’s 13 and Anthony Randolph’s 12 points.
Neither team had much luck from behind the arc early on which moved their focus to the paint and Real Madrid had a big advantage down low in Walter Tavares. The big man scored six points, grabbed seven boards and made three blocks in the first quarter, and was the main reason behind Real’s 22-11 early lead. Causeur also had a great half with nine points without a missed shot but Rodriguez was locked in against his former team and helped CSKA cut the distance before halftime (45-43) with 14 points.
Both squads put on strong defense after the break but Real managed to score a lot of tough shots and went ahead 73-65 in front of the final ten minutes. However, De Colo was putting on a strong second half and together with Rodriguez and Clyburn pushed their team to a complete comeback and eventually the win.