Olympiakos to play Real Madrid for Euroleague title

Olympiakos to play Real Madrid for Euroleague title


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MADRID (AP) — Point guard Vassilis Spanoulis scored 11 fourth-quarter points Friday, including the go-ahead 3-pointer, to lead Olympiakos to a 70-68 comeback win over CSKA Moscow and into the Euroleague final.

Real Madrid also reached Sunday's title game after Gustavo Ayon scored 18 points in the host's 96-87 win over Turkish club Fenerbahce.

Olympiakos beat Madrid for the European title in 2013.

Spanoulis, a three-time Euroleague champion and former Houston Rocket, shook off an 0-for-8 first-half shooting performance by hitting three 3-pointers and another jumper to help the Greek club erase a nine-point deficit with under five minutes to play.

Spanoulis finished with 13 points, with Giorgios Printezis leading Olympiakos with 14.

"One more time we showed our character and heart," Spanoulis said. "They tried to put me out of the game, but I stayed in there and at the end I knew that I could do it again."

Nando de Colo led CSKA with 18 points off the bench.

In the second semifinal, Ayon scored 12 early points and guard K.C. Rivers hit all four 3-pointers he attempted in the first half to give Madrid a 55-35 lead by halftime.

Madrid was ahead by 26 points in the third quarter, and held on after the Turkish visitors whittled the deficit down to 10 points with two minutes left.

Guard Andrew Goudelock scored most of his game-high 26 points for Fenerbahce in the final period.

The match had an ill-tempered finish filled with fouls, as Madrid saw Ayon and two other centers foul out along with Fenerbahce's Emir Preldzic and regular-season league MVP Nemanja Bjelica.

Madrid reached the last two Euroleague finals, losing to Maccabi last year.

"This is championship game No. 3 for some of our guys, there is no celebration tonight," Rivers said.

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