CSKA, Panathinaikos In Euroleague Final

CSKA beat Barcelona thanks to Lithuanian forward Ramunas Siskauskas, who scored 18 of his 29 career-high points in the fourth quarter.

Holders CSKA Moscow edged past Barcelona 82-78 to set up a repeat of the 2007 Euroleague final against Panathinaikos, who beat local rivals Olympiakos 84-82 in the other semi-final on Friday.

CSKA beat Barcelona thanks to Lithuanian forward Ramunas Siskauskas, who scored 18 of his 29 career-high points in the fourth quarter.

With the Spaniards leading for most of the match, Siskauskas sprang into action in the final 10 minutes to book his team's place in their fourth straight final. Barcelona centre David Andersen was the Spanish team's top scorer with 24.

The 2003 winners were dominant in the first two quarters, quickly opening up a 10-point lead. Guards Jaka Lakovic and Juan Carlos Navarro launched quick breaks while Andersen and Daniel Santiago kept the Russian centres at bay.

CSKA, winners twice in the past three years and with six wins overall, started chipping away at the lead with baskets from Shasha Kaun and forward Victor Khryapa before J.R. Holden briefly levelled.

Barcelona shot back into the lead after the break with consecutive points from Andersen, including his second three-pointer.

Then Siskauskas took over, making four out of six three pointers, including three in a row, and wreaking havoc on the Spanish defence to lead his team to victory.

"I knew if we stayed focused we would win but it was so difficult," Siskauskas told reporters. "We made some great defensive plays in the fourth quarter and offensively I just took the shots. These were opportunities."

LAST SECONDS

In a nail-biting finale to the second semi-final, Olympiakos failed to level when forward Josh Childress pushed the ball to the rim twice in the dying seconds with bitter rivals Panathinaikos ahead 84-82.

Olympiakos top scorer Lynn Greer kept them in the game toward the end of the second quarter with 10 of his 18 points, when the Greek champions threatened to break away.

Theo Papaloukas put Olympiakos level for the first time in the match with a clever lay-up in the third quarter.

But Panathinaikos, winners of the title four times including in 2007 against CSKA, opened an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter thanks to Mike Batiste, who finished up with 19 points.

Olympiakos managed to come back but neither Yannis Bourousis nor Childress, Europe's most expensive signing, could push the ball in the basket as the clock ran out.

"We did not play our best game today," Batiste said. "There are still some minor things that we need to improve, and we will try to do that on Sunday night."