CSKA torch Maccabi

Slovenian forward Matjaz Smodis started the scoring for the hosts on the opening play of the game, and after Maccabi guard Will Bynum responded with a jumper to level the score at 2-2 CSKA took control from there.

Led by near-perfect shooting from Smodis and Oscar Torres the holders went on a 23-3 run to take a commanding lead, finishing the first quarter up 32-13.

"CSKA opened the game like a meteor. Unfortunately, it was impossible for us to stop them and make a comeback," summarised Maccabi center Yaniv Green.

After scoring 12 points in the first, Smodis finished the game with 15 handing things over to the rest of CSKA's high-powered offense.

The "Alaskan Assassin" Trajan Langdon lit up the visitors the rest of the night, finishing with a game-leading 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.

After the CSKA lead reached 30 points in the second period, Maccabi closed the first half with a 10-2 run thanks to a pair of threes from Simas Jasaitis to go into halftime trailing 59-37.

In addition to Langdon's brilliant night, Greek point guard Theodoros Papaloukas was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to finish with the game's only double-double on 14 points and 10 assists.

CSKA win the best-of-three series 2-1 recovering from a disappointing 68-56 loss last week ago in Tel Aviv and confirming their bruising 80-58 opening win at home.

"CSKA has pride; we had to present our apologies to our fans because of the loss at Tel Aviv. Well, we showed our pride on the court," Papaloukas said.

David Andersen came on strong in the fourth quarter to finish with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, as Torres made it five CSKA players in double-digit scoring finishing with 14 points after his 8-point first quarter effort.

As a team, CSKA were 21-for-29 from inside the arc and 13-for-26 from beyond the three-point line after cooling off in the last two periods.

Jasaitis was the only Maccabi scorer in double-digits finishing with 18 points.

Maccabi Tel Aviv boss Neven Spahija lamented his team's inability to bring in more top players at the beginning of the season.

"The reality of Maccabi is that CSKA is better. I cannot blame my players. I have no others. We had difficulty in the beginning of the season bringing players," Spahija said.

In the Final Four CSKA will face Spanish champions Unicaja Malaga, who beat Barcelona 67-64 in Thursday's late game.