CSKA beats Barcelona for 3rd at Euroleague

London, May 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Milos Teodosic of CSKA Moscow passes during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four third place match between FC Barcelona Regal and CSKA Moscow at the O2 Arena on May 12, 2013 in London, England.

Russian side CSKA Moscow recovered some pride by beating Barcelona of Spain 74-73 to take third place at Euroleague basketball’s Final Four here.

CSKA bounced back from a 69-52 semi-final crushing by Olympiacos Friday and responded well to coach Ettore Messina’s pleas for the players to show dedication and teamwork in the third-place game Sunday instead of playing like “a bunch of rabbits”.

Barcelona leave winless, but could have snatched victory in the final seconds when Marcelinho Huertas’ two-point shot bounced off the rim.

“Survival of the fittest,” CSKA guard Aaron Jackson said of the hectic finish.

“We stuck with it, especially on defence, to the end and we came away with the win.”

Barcelona centre Erazem Lorbek, himself a former CSKA player, said Barcelona failed to make the most of its scoring opportunities.

“I think it was a good game and we had our chances in the end. We just couldn’t take them, couldn’t win,” he said.

Viktor Khryapa top-scored for CSKA with 16 points, while Juan Carlos Navarro led Barcelona with 17.