CSKA Moscow claims Russian title

A last gasp score from American swingman Sonny Weems was enough to give CSKA Moscow a narrow 68-66 victory over Samara based Krasnye Krylia. For CSKA Moscow the victory was enough to seal the clubs 20th Russian title, further cementing the place of the club as the most prolific in Russian history and one of the giants of the continental game.

The CSKA Moscow players knew that clinching the title against the Samara club would not be easy, after all Krasnye Krylia won the Russian Cup last week and is competing in the Final Four of the Eurochallenge. CSKA too has its sights set on continental glory and has recently defeated Caja Laboral in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague play-offs.

With a comfortable lead atop the Russian PBL and no play-offs in the competition this year, CSKA knew that victory in Samara would secure the title in the regular season. The players looked determined from the tip off and the Moscow team was far quicker to move through the gears than their opponents, racing to a 25-13 lead. That would be the story of the first half as CSKA continued to turn the screw, eventually opening up an 18 point gap lead late in the half.

However, in the second half Krasnye Krylia responded with 12 unanswered points and managed to rein in their opponents. With the game now on a knife edge, both teams enjoyed being on top in an exciting match up. However, it was the Samara team that looked to be on course for victory with just 8 seconds on the clock and a lead of 66 to 65.

It was not to be for Krasnye Krylia as Sonny Weems stepped up with a huge three points for CSKA Moscow to put the board at 68-66. One last attempt by Krasnye Krylia forward Dmitry Kulagin to even the scores failed and handed the victory and the Russian title to CSKA.

Legendary CSKA Moscow head coach Ettore Messina was pleased with yet another title, and the Italian was happy to come have through an intense period of games.

We are very happy to have won the Russian championship,” said Messina.
“This year, we have confronted a lot of great teams; Krasnye Krylia won the Russian Cup and advanced to the Final Four of the EuroChallenge, Lokomotiv Kuban won the Eurocup, Khimki and Triumph had a great season while our traditional rivals Unics Kazan and Spartak were as good as ever despite difficulties.”

The action does not stop for CSKA as the team is still in contention for the VTB United League and will continue its push for Euroleague glory. As for Krasnye Krylia, despite the loss the season will end on a high thanks to last week’s Russian Cup triumph and the teams drive in the Eurochallenge Final Four.