Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos Athens is the 2009 Euroleague champions (boxscore).

The Greens beat CSKA Moscow 73-71 in a thriller of a game (discuss) at the o2 arena in Berlin Germany.

CSKA, the defending Euroleague champions, came all the way from a 23-point deficit in the second half, but Ramunas Siskauskas’ potential game-winning three-pointer rimmed out, and Pana was able to hold on to the win.

CSKA was down 48-28 at halftime, only to slowly chip away at the lead in the third quarter behind Trajan Langdon.  With solid defense, CSKA would go into the fourth with their halftime deficit cut in half, only trailing the Greens by just ten points 56-46.

Despite only a ranking of 5, Panathinaikos guard Vassilis Spanoulis of Greece, was named Finals MVP.  The 6-4 guard finished the game with just 13 points mostly coming from his 3 three-point field goals.  An odd selection as Spanoulis had no assists, no rebounds, and one turnover.

Spanoulis’ backcourt mate Dmitrios Diamantidis added 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Sarunas Jasikevicius put up 12 points, 3 threes, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.  Antonis Fotsis contributed 13 points and team-high 8 rebounds. Jasikevicius became the first player to ever win a Euroleague title with three different teams.

J.R. Holden led CSKA with 20 points and 4 assists.  Trajan Langdon and Siskauskas had 13 points apiece while Matjaz Smodis put up 9 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.  Viktor Khryapa had 9 points and 7 rebounds for the losers.

Pana’s big man Nikola Pekovic was held to just 6 points and the center from Montenegro turned the ball over 6 times.  This is the seventh Euroleague title for head coach Zeljko Obradovic, the winningest head coach in Euroleague history. This is Pao’s fifth championship in its history. Talk about the championship game in our forum.

Regal Barcelona defeated Olympiakos Piraeus 95-79 in the third place game played earlier in the day.

Links and Resources: Euroleague final: Panathinaikos vs CSKA Moscow (Interbasket), Poll: Who will become 2009 Euroleague Champion? (Interbasket)