ZALGIRIS WINS ALEKSANDAR GOMELSKIY CUP

Zalgiris Kaunas lifted the Aleksandar Gomelskiy Cup Wednesday after besting Panathinaikos 80-69 in the final in Moscow, Russia. Paulius Jankunas and Ratko Varda led the way for the winners with 15 points apiece. Marcus Brown and Jonas Maciulis added 11 each and Willie Deane recorded 9 points and dished 8 assists for the winners. Stratos Perperoglou and Mike Batiste paced Panathinaikos with 12 points, Sarunas Jasikevicius added 10 and Vassilis Spanoulis had 8 points and 7 assists.

The game was close for 30 minutes and the Lithuanian champs led by only 2 points heading into the fourth quarter, but Zalgiris outscored the Greens 20-11 in the last period to seal the win.

Host and defending Euroleague Basketball champion CSKA Moscow took third place after downing Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 76-59. Erazen Lorbek paced the winners with 22 points and 7 rebounds and Trajan Langdon added 15. Maccabi held a 37-42 halftime lead, but scored only 7 third-quarter points as CSKA pulled away for an easy win. Viktor Khryapa added 12 points and Terrence Morris had 8 points and 10 boards for the winners. Carlos Arroyo led Maccabi with 13 and Rodney White netted 12 in his debut.