Game for eternity

Zenit St.Petersburg – CSKA: 110-111 2OT (+1)

Zenit: Carter (3), Loyd (15 + 8 rb + 10 as + 4 pf), Karasev (25 + 5 rb + 3 as + 2 st + 4 pf), Buckner (4), Mickey (13 + 5 rb + 2 as + 3 st + 4 bs) – start; Zaharov (2 as), Baron (28 + 3 as + 4 pf), Zubkov (2 + 5 rb + 4 pf), Poythress (20 + 4 as + 2 st + 2 bs + 4 pf), Vyaltsev (DNP), Monya (0), Fridzon (0)…

CSKA: Ware (18), Antonov (8 + 4 rb + 5 pf), Milutinov (20 + 17 rb), Kurbanov (6 + 2 as + 2 st + 4 pf), Shved (21 + 4 rb + 10 as + 5 to + 5 pf) – start; Khomenko (DNP), Freeman (3), Ukhov (0), Clyburn (33 + 6 rb + 3 to + 5 pf), Lopatin (DNP), Jerebko (2), Kolesnikov (DNP)…

Dimitris Itoudis, head coach of CSKA:

Congratulations to the team on the win. I would say: congratulations to both teams on a great game, congratulations to Xavi [Pascual] and everyone else. When the refs were checking if the last shot was on time, I left the gym so as not to be nervous, and when I returned, Xavi was no longer there. It was an amazing game, that shows what a great game basketball is. We should have won in regular time, but we made a lot of mistakes. We didn't foul, we didn't switch and foul being up by 6… And we paid the price. At the same time, we fought in difficult conditions, and I congratulate the players who got the victory. There were altercations, technical, unsportsmanlike fouls, but this is the essence of the final series. Emotions are running high. I think as a team we deserved to win in regular time. I want to be understood correctly: we did everything right, we had to win. Naturally, Zenit have enough talent, Billy [Baron] and Karasev did their best. We understand that this spectacular victory does not give us the championship title. Yes, we fought the opponent and the circumstances, but it's not over yet. This game should be a lesson for us on how to deal with the creative game of Zenit, with its system. I hope that in the fifth game we will again have a great atmosphere in Megasport. Thanks to all the spectators today and, in particular, to those CSKA fans who supported us.