By Amy Samin

Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Guy Pnini, Chuck Eidson, and Sofoklis Schortsanitis started the game for Maccabi, facing off against Antonis Fotsis, Romain Sato, Dimitris Diamantidis, Ian Vougioukas, and Nick Calathes. The game started in almost identical fashion to Maccabi's semi-final game against Real Madrid, with the opponent taking a quick 4 – 0 lead and Pnini coming through in the clutch with a three from the corner to keep things close. Eidson added a three of his own (assist Pargo) to tie the score at 6 after four minutes of play. Each time the Greeks took the lead, Maccabi answered to retie the score, including another three-pointer by Pnini at the top of the arc. David Blu scored twice from the charity stripe to give Maccabi a 13 – 11 lead, but that slim advantage evaporated quickly as Pana jumped to 18 – 13 with just over two minutes left in the period. A spinning layup by Eidson was answered with four more points by the Greeks to finish the quarter with the score 22 – 15.

Maccabi opened the second quarter with typical dazzling style; a steal by Pargo was sent to Milan Mačvan, who dished to Eidson for a three that cut the deficit to four points. The sequence was reversed when Eidson fed Mačvan for two points off the glass. Eidson continued to dominate, scoring at the shot clock buzzer to put Maccabi within three points of the Greek team, 27 – 24 near the halfway mark in the period. Blu scored from the right corner (assist Pnini) to make it 29 – 27, Panathinaikos with three minutes left. Points by Stratos Perperoglou extended the Greek lead, but a catch-and-shoot from outside the arc by Blu (assist Pargo) made it a one point game, 31 – 30. One last basket by Sato brought Pana's points for the quarter to only 11, but still the team in green held the lead going into halftime, 33 – 30.

The Greeks scored first at the start of the second half, but Pargo delivered a slick 360 degree spinning layup soon followed by two free throws to narrow the gap to one, 35 – 34. Points by Sofo under the basket (assist Pargo) put the lead back in Maccabi's hands, albeit all too briefly as Drew Nicholas responded with points of his own. By midway through the third quarter Panathinaikos had extended their lead to 43 – 36. Blu scored a layup and one, but the Greeks continued to score easily. Blu's three pointer following a time-out didn't help much, and the period ended with Pana leading by a score of 54 – 43.

Sofo and Pargo scored early in the fourth quarter, but Panathinaikos responded quickly and after three minutes of play in the period had opened up a fourteen point lead, 61 – 47. Maccabi refused to concede however, and Eliyahu, Pnini and Pargo took charge of the game at both ends of the court, fighting hard on defense and scoring from the field and the foul line; with less than four and a half minutes left in the game, Panathinaikos' lead had been cut to seven, 63 – 56. For the next several minutes the teams took turns at the free throw line, where neither team did particularly well. With a minute and a half remaining, Eliyahu scored two quick baskets to put Maccabi within five, 69 – 64. Panathinaikos scored twice, and Pargo added a bucket for Maccabi. With 33 seconds left on the clock, Pnini fouled out and was replaced by team captain Derrick Sharp. Eidson's two from the foul line and an assist to Eliyahu with 19 seconds left made it 74 -70, but four straight points from the charity stripe in the final seconds gave Panathinaikos Athens the 78 – 70 victory over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, and the Euroleague championship title.

Box Score:

Maccabi: Eidson 17 points, 7 rebounds; Blu 14 points; Pargo 12 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Eliyahu 12 points, 5 rebounds; Pnini 8 points, 5 rebounds; Schortsanitis 4 points; Mačvan 3 points, 4 rebounds.