Panathinaikos outlasted Olympiacos 84-82 in the Euroleague’s second semifinal during Final Four held in Berlin, Germany (Discuss the EL Final Four)

A see-saw battle in the fourth period ultimately saw the two Greek clubs go down low to their centers; Ioannis Bourousis of Olympiacos and Nikola Pekovic of Panathinaikos would clash on the inside.

Greek center Bourousis tied the game at 82-82 with a little over a minute to play, but Montenegrin pivot Pekovic would score inside to make the final margin.

In the final seconds, Olympiacos forced the ball inside again, but  Bourousis would missed. Former NBA player Josh Childress got the offensive rebound, but missed the follow-up and the Greens hung on to celebrate their win over the Reds.

Panathinaikos had only six players that scored Friday night, but that’s all the Greens needed.

Four Pana players scored between 18-20 points for the Greek club, led by Nikola Pekovic’s 20 points.  Mike Batiste added 19 with 6 rebounds, while the Pana backcourt of Vassilis Spanoulis and Sarunas Jasikevicius added 18 apiece.

Sarunas Jasikevicius scored eight points in the final quarter for Pana.  Jasikevicius hit four shots from downtown.  Saras also added a team-high five assists.

The Reds were led by Lynn Greer’s 18 points, 14 from Nikola Vujcic, 11 from Childress, Bourousis added 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.  Greek Olympiacos players Theodoros Papaloukas and Georgios Printzias each added 9 points to the cause.

With the win, Panathinaikos will face Euroleague defending champion CSKA Moscow in Sunday’s title game (Discuss: Who will win the championship?) while Olympiacos will play Regal F.C. Barcelona for the third place game.

The Russian and Greek clubs are two of the most successful in Euroleague history.  CSKA is looking for their seventh Euroleague championship, while a championship would give Panathinaikos their fifth title.  The third place game and finale will be played on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009.

Links and Resources: Euroleague final: Panathinaikos vs CSKA Moscow (Interbasket), Olympiacos and Panathinaikos Boxscore (Euroleague.net), Poll: Who will become 2009 Euroleague Champion? (Interbasket), Euroleague Final 4 in Berlin (Interbasket), Final 4 MVP? (Interbasket)