ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece’s two Euroleague representatives, winners of the past three competitions, staved off elimination by winning closely contested home games on Monday.
Panathinaikos, which won the last of its six Euroleague championships in 2011, defeated CSKA Moscow 65-59 behind 13 points from center Stephane Lasme. Sonny Weems scored 14 for CSKA, which will seek to close out the best-of-five quarterfinal series on Wednesday, again at Panathinaikos.
Earlier, defending Euroleague champion Olympiakos stayed alive in its quest for a third consecutive title when it beat Real Madrid 78-76.
Madrid still leads the quarterfinal series between last year’s two finalists 2-1. Game 4 will be at Olympiakos on Wednesday.
Guard Costas Sloukas scored the go-ahead free throws with 7.4 seconds to go. Sergio Llull missed twice from the line for Madrid with 2.9 seconds left. Madrid got the offensive rebound but could not get a shot off in time.
Defense dominated the final quarter, with Olympiakos going scoreless for nearly six minutes. Madrid could only close the eight-point gap to one (68-67) in that time, but, with 44 seconds left, took the lead, at 74-73, for the first time since the early minutes when Sergio Rodriguez scored on a layup.
Giorgos Printezis gave the hosts the lead back with his only field goal, a 3-pointer, with 21.4 seconds to go. Madrid’s Felipe Reyes and Rodriguez tied the game by each splitting a pair of free throws and, in between, Olympiakos’ Brent Petway missed both of his.
Forward Bryant Dunston led Olympiakos with 21 points, on 9 of 10 shooting, and nine rebounds.
Rodriguez was Madrid’s top scorer with 19.
Also, Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Emporio Armani Milan 75-63 to take a 2-1 lead in that series.
The series winners reach the Euroleague Final Four, in Milan, on May 16-18.
Barcelona advanced on Sunday after sweeping Turkey’s Galatasaray.
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