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It's time to paint the basketballs yellow instead of orange! The Euroleague has a new champion tonight after Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Skipper Bologna 118-74 in a record-breaking show never before seen in European basketball. Maccabi won with the most points by the biggest difference ever, going back almost 50 years since the start of European pro basketball. Maccabi's spectacular blowout punctuated a season that has lifted European basketball to new and greater heights. Before one of the most euphoric crowds in basketball history, Maccabi made a dream of the entire country of Israel come true without any bit of suspense. From the opening tap, Maccabi ruled its home floor at Nokia Arena, soaring to a 25-point halftime lead and never looking back. It marked the fourth time that Maccabi has lifted a cup as a continental champion. Though it had a home crowd of 10,458 was fully behind it, Maccabi took nothing for granted. Its 55 first-half points was a record in the Final Four era, and it's defense was just as impressive. By the middle of the third quarter, it was showtime, as Anthony Parker rocked the rim with reverse dunks and Sarunas Jasikevicius dropped three-pointers. The party had long since begun in the stands, and the celebration will not stop anytime soon. Maccabi is champion of Europe, and there was no doubt about it!!!

"Retreat, hell! We just got here!"-Captain Lloyd Williams, 2nd Marine Division, Belleau Wood, France, WWI

Maccabi TA beat Skipper Bologna 118-74 in Euroleague final

Maccabi Tel Aviv overwhelmingly beat Italian team Skipper Bologna with a final score of 118-74 in Saturday night's Euroleague championship final against at the Nokia Arena (Yad Eliyahu) in Tel Aviv.
The game began at around 9:45 P.M., following a consolation round of the Final Four between CSKA Moscow and Siena at 7:10 P.M. Both games were broadcast live on Channel 1, with some 10,000 spectators watching from the stands at Yad Eliyahu.

Maccabi is vying for its fourth Euroleague cup, following previous wins in 1977, 1981 and 2001.

Maccabi and Skipper were scheduled to hold training sessions at the Nokia Arena on Saturday morning, Army Radio reported.

Pini Gershon, Maccabi's coach, said that both teams had good offensive tools. "The crowd yesterday watched for great teams," he added.

"Pressure exists, but that's the same for Skipper, but our advantage is that we've been there before, experience is more important than the home advantage," Gershon said.

Skipper coach Jasmin Repesa also mentioned his players' inexperience: "I have a young team. 11 of our players are in the Final Four for the first team." He said his team's advantage was the lack of pressure. "The home crowd doesn't intimidate me - we've won this year in front of this crowd," Repesa added.

Earlier, CSKA Moscow rallied in the Euroleague Final Four consolation game to defeat Montepaschi Siena 97-94 for third place, with point guard Marcus Brown leading the way with 27 points.

Maccabi defeats CSKA Moscow 93-85
Maccabi survived a shaky start Thursday night to defeat CSKA Moscow 93-85 and win a chance to meet Skipper Bologna in the Final Four championship game.

Bologna gained a ticket to the final game with a closely fought 103-102 over Italian rival Montepaschi Siena earlier in the evening.

In its most important game of the season, Maccabi demonstrated sound basketball fundamentals and strong defense to overcome an early 11-point deficit.

Maccabi, playing before an excited home crowd at Nokia Arena, controlled the borders and converted 12 offensive rebounds for 14 points. Maccabi also stole the ball from the Russian team 12 times, but did not take full advantage of these quick hands, missing some easy shots.

Maccabi didn't let up after CSKA surged to a 34-23 lead after the first 13 minutes. Coach Pini Gershon made efficient use of his bench, while CKSA coach Dusan Ivcovic left Marcus Brown on the court too long, allowing him to rack up his third foul early in the second half.

While Maccabi's substitutes contributed just 18 points and 6 rebounds, these came at crucial times. David Bluthenthal (4 of 4 from the field) picked Maccabi up twice and Gur Shelef helped the team move the ball, as well as making some wise fouls.

Anthony Parker was Maccabi's offensive leader, especially during the first half. He finished the game with 27 points, including a pair of alley-oop dunks in the third quarter that ignited the crowd.

Coming back from halftime one point down, Maccabi opened up a seven-point lead by the end of the third quarter and maintained at least a five-point advantage for the rest of the game. Tal Burstein's three-pointer with 2:30 gave Maccabi a comfortable 12-point lead, 80-68, and effectively put the game out of reach.

Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and played a smart game, handing out six assists and stealing the ball seven times. He was steady at the foul line, pouring in 10 points of his 18 points after being fouled.

Nikola Vujcic added 14 more for Maccabi and Maceo Baston recorded a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Marcus Brown was top scorer for CSKA with 23; J.R. Holden added 16, Victor Alexander 12 and Sergei Monya 10. Mirsad Turkcan also had a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds for CSKA.

"Retreat, hell! We just got here!"-Captain Lloyd Williams, 2nd Marine Division, Belleau Wood, France, WWI

As you can tell, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the Israeli team in the Euroleague, the European Basketbal League, slaughtered the Italian team by a 44 point difference. Makes me proud to be an Israeli...

"Retreat, hell! We just got here!"-Captain Lloyd Williams, 2nd Marine Division, Belleau Wood, France, WWI

Used to never know Basketball was thought of so highly in other countries. I really want to see a game with Maccabi, maybe a replay of that last one. lol. Congratulations to Israel!!!

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at the big man crying.