Close, but no cigar for Reds in Moscow
Olympiakos came close to handing CSKA Moscow its first home defeat in Europe this season, but succumbed to the Russian club in the last seconds 83-79. The lead kept changing hands throughout the game, with CSKA finishing two points on top at halftime (39-37). But Pini Gershon’s men played strong and took the lead several times, evening the score at 73-73 with two minutes to go. Ultimately, though, Thodoros Papaloukas and his CSKA teammates helped the Russian side to its 16th consecutive win. James Penn and Yiannis Bourousis led the scoring for the Greeks with 16 points each, followed by Alex Acker with 11 and Sophocles Schortsianitis with 10. Trajan Langdon scored 23 for CSKA, ahead of Matjaz Smodis with 20. Papaloukas scored six just points but also had five rebounds and five assists. Tonight Panathinaikos hosts Poland’s Prokom Trefl at the Olympic Center, in a game pitting the top team against the bottom one in the group.
