EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR 2008
PANATHINAIKOS 83 - 80 
REAL MADRID
The Athenian basketball club Panathinaikos defeated the "Royal" basketball club Real Madrid after a dramatic game. Both teams were tactical, and aggressive both defensively and offensively. Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos and Louis Bullock of Real were exceptional. Batiste did not only score the most points, but also grabbed the most rebounds. Bullock was quick, aggressive and accurate, putting down 24 points for his team. Other considerable players in the game were Alex Mumbru, who grabbed 7 rebounds and hit a buzzer beater in the third quarter; Raul Lopez, who used his essential ball-handling skills to make 5 assists; Carl Smith and Felipe Reyes were also a big part of the Madrid team. For Panathinaikos, Sarunas Jasikevicius, who, despite 6 careless turnovers, earned 14 points for the team; Andrija Zizic showed an outstanding performance, making 10 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action; Kostas Tsartsaris had similar results, but he grabbed 8 rebounds from under the basket. Some players were just out of luck; PAO's playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis had to miss the game because of slight back injury, which occurred two days prior to today's game. Both Pablo Aguilar and Blagota Sekulic missed today's game; they had family problems.
Panathinaikos started off the game with Mike Batiste's two-handed dunk. The Royal club had no answer for the first few minutes, so PAO's score grew (4-0). Finally, the Spanish club awoke and started off with Carl Smith's successful dunk with a foul (4-3). Real gained confidence after the Smith's three-point play and continued to rise above the opponents (6-7).
With 5 minutes left of the first quarter, Dimitris Diamantidis swished in a three-pointer that gained the lead for the greens (13-12), but it wasn't long before Louis Bullock overturned the lead, hitting an impossible 2-pointer. The Spanish team hung on to the lead, but it was very small. Towards the end of the first quarter, PAO's Kennedy Winston drove the ball in with a foul, taking the lead. Although Winston was unable to hit the free-throw, it was rebounded by Andrija Zizic and dunked in. The two opponents fought till the end of the quarter, with PAO taking the lead (22-18).
Second quarter turned out to be a tough quarter for the greens. Already from the beginning of the quarter the Royal club proved that it was not going to be defeated easily. After Lazaros Papadapoulos' two dunks and Raul Lopez's three-pointer, Panathinaikos' lead was reduced to a point (28-27). Bullock continued to attack from up close, Bodganovic - from farther distances, and the Royal club gained the lead, forcing Panathinaikos' head coach, Zeljko Obradovic, a minute's timeout (30-35).
The minute's timeout did not aid the drowning greens, as Royal club put much defensive pressure on them, forcing PAO's players to make careless turnovers. In the final minutes, Sarunas Jasikevicius finally stepped up to reduce PAO's deficit to only a point after a magnificent three-pointer and a lay-up (37-39).
After the halftime, both teams started off a little nervous, and for few minutes, no points were gained. Finally, green's Batiste made a shot from the paint, and tied the game. The two teams then played equally, taking no lead. The main points came from Diamantidis, Batiste, Tsartsaris, Smith, Bullock and Tunceri.
Towards the end of the third quarter, Batiste took advantage of the three-point play by hitting from free-throw line and drawing another foul (51-48). Real was shocked for a moment, and PAO began successfully gain points and increasing their spurt to a high 7 points (57-50).
However, the purple team did not throw their hands up and give up. With the help of Bullock, Reyes and Lopez, the team again reduced the deficit to minimum.
During the crucial quarter, the greens did not allow Real to take leadership and kept up ahead of the Royal club by a small lead. During the last moments of the game, Bullock made a power lay-up and tied the score (80-80). This, however, did not stop the greens from scoring. Perperoglou made the his first lay-up of the night and led his team forward. 4 seconds remaining, Real's Mumbru fouled on Jasikevicius, who hit one of the two free-throws. During the last seconds, Smith's game-tying three-point missed and Panathinaikos celebrated their victory over Real.
Statistics:
PANATHINAIKOS 83 - 80 REAL MADRID
(22-18, 15-21, 22-19, 24-22)
Leaders:
Panathinaikos
·M. Batiste - 33 minutes, 17 points (7/14 from field, 3/3 free throws), 10 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls
·S. Jasikevicius - 25 minutes, 14 points (5/11 from field, 3/8 three-pointers, 1/2 free throws), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls
·K. Tsartsaris - 18 minutes, 10 points (5/8 from field), 8 rebounds, 1 block, 3 fouls
·A. Zizic - 18 minutes, 10 points (5/6 from field), 4 rebounds, 1 block
·D. Diamantidis - 29 minutes, 9 points (4/9 from field, 1/4 three-pointers), 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Real Madrid
·L. Bullock - 36 minutes, 24 points (12/21 from field), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover
·C. Smith - 23 minutes, 15 points (7/15 from field, 1/2 free throws), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls
·R. Lopez - 26 minutes, 13 points (6/10 from field, 1/3 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls
·L. Papadopoulos - 30 minutes, 6 points (3/7 from field), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls
·K. Tunceri - 17 minutes, 6 points (1/6 from field, 4/4 free throws), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover
Gallery:
(Left) Sarunas Jasikevicius and Kerem Tunceri. Louis Bullock (#22) dunking over Dimitris Diamantidis (Right).
