The monotony of the FMP Zeleznik vs. Vilnius Lietuvos Rytas game up until the quarter break had only one peak of excitement, which did maintained the Lithuanians in a home court lead, chalking up 11 points.

The home team had a brief big bang at the start of the second quarter, prompting Serbian Coach Trifonovic to call a time out, hard-pressed to put a halt to FMP. At 3.5 minutes into the second period the Serbs led by: 28-18. It was not all a result of a wide bench, however. The Baltic club kept putting the breaks on the game and leveling the score. Up until the break, the home team gained +5, and they were closing in on their objective once again. However, they got another blow and faced with a 43-42 called a time out.

The pendulum swung a couple of times in the home team’s favor, but Rytas interrupted the rhythm, making all FMP Zeleznik’s attempts tip the scales to their advantage, with success. Zeleznik’s roster had Erceg, Teodosic, and Rasic score 15 points a piece, while the best of Lietuvos Rytas were the Aussie Nielsen (19), the USA’s Rush (15), and the Latvian Stelmahers (8).

Meanwhile, in the Spanish capital, the game started off with Stombergas flying solo, with two consecutive 3-pointers. During the rest of the time Saulius left the score untouched, while later the heavy artillery of the home team came down heavily. Felipe Reyes managed a fantastic quarter, while Domino in the trapeze scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, collecting 9 rebounds (6 offensives!). Mescheryakov was launched to mark him, and a fight almost ensued, though was quickly extinguished along with heated emotions.

During the second quarter, Plaza asked for a time out after Kazan evened the scoreboard, but Stevenson took the visiting team to the lead with: 38-35. The players for Real Madrid started to shoot from the outside, and at the end of minute 3 of the second half, Sekulic scored 5 consecutives, clinching the points needed for his team: 51-42, and forcing the UNICS coach to take a breather, though the Madrid boys kept on their track.

With Kazan’s 22-point disadvantage, (15 in the series), they were not about to give in, and attempting to turn the game around, roughened up the plays. The Spanish club, however, was rougher, and took the game to the necessary result. Among the finalists, top scorers, Bullock (27), Reyes (23 + 16 rebounds), Sekulic (12), Hervelle (11), while for Kazan: D. Lavrinovic (13), Savanovic (12), Stevenson (10).


Semi Finals. Rematch Games

20 March

FMP Zeleznik (Belgrade, Serbia) vs. Lietuvos Rytas (Vilnius, Lithuania): 72-69 (20-16, 17-16, 20-21, 15-16)

Real (Madrid, Spain) vs. UNICS (Kazan, Russia): 84-63 (22-18, 22-22, 22-9, 18-14)


Final to be played in Charleroi on 10 April