Fenerbahce — CSKA, 17 May 2015

Our team complicated its life by letting 28-point lead over Fenerbahce-Ulker slip away. And still the Army Men took third place in Euroleague.

FB Ulker (Istanbul) vs. CSKA: 80-86 (+6)

FB Ulker: Goudelock (24 + 3 to + 5 pf), Zisis (12 + 3 rb + 6 as + 4 pf), Bjelica (18 + 10 rb + 3 st + 4 to + 4 pf), Erden (8 + 4 rb), Bogdanovic (5 + 3 rb + 4 as), Zoric (8), Vesely (5 + 3 rb)…

CSKA: De Colo (17 + 4 to), Fridzon (9), Nichols (14 + 5 rb), Jackson (12 + 6 as), Markoishvili (1), Weems (6 + 4 pf), Vorontsevich (3 + 3 rb), Kaun (9 + 6 rb), Khryapa (2), Hines (8 + 4 rb), Kirilenko (5 + 6 rb + 4 pf)…

Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:

If you were on the court today, you would agree we saw two different faces in the first and second halves. We were dominant in all phases of the game in the first half, we controlled the tempo, played great defense and made Fenerbahce players take tough decisions, made them shoot with bad percentage, especially from 2-point distance. The result in the first half was justified. The second half was different. We knew that Fenerbahce would step up and play for their pride. They applied pressure to our point guards and tied the game. At that moment my team responded, we passed the ball well, found open shots, managed to support that with good defence – we played switches, still controlled the boards and we won the game. I have to congratulate each player who played this game. It is very difficult to play in this kind of games but we played for our pride and for the fans who spent big money to come and support us in Madrid. We said we would come back to the Euroleague competition stronger next year.

Vitaly Fridzon, CSKA Moscow guard:

I was ready to play today. It was my first game since I broke finger a month ago. I feel good physically. The third place game is for fans because it’s not needed to clubs, we even don’t get medals. Now we have VTB League. My own Euroleague career goes up – last year we were the fourth, this year – the third, so next season it should give me the final game. It’s a pity we lose in semifinals year by year.

Andrey Vorontsevich, CSKA Moscow forward:

The third place games are not needed to anyone. But today we had to win for our fans who came to Madrid to support us. This game was for them all. We had a big advantage till the last quarter when we let Fener score a lot of shots. Opponents started to play hard on defense. Thank that we had enough power to finish the game with the win.

Andrey Kirilenko, CSKA Moscow forward:

I think we taught our fans to never relax and support till the end. Both games in Final Four showed that it’s hard for us to play in final episodes. But it obviously was good experience to play in tense moments when all the people cheer for the opponents. I’m glad that we won and were not beaten up.