The 30-year-old hit three big three-pointers in the third quarter of Sunday’s Euroleague title game against Maccabi Tel Aviv as the Greens took the lead for good.
They ultimately held on for a 78-70 triumph.
Sato, after Greece international Sofoklis Schortsanitis capped a Maccabi Tel Aviv comeback with a basket in the low post to put the Israeli club on top 36-35 early in the third quarter, hit back-to-back shots from the arc in an 8-0 Panathinaikos run.
They never trailed again.
Dimitris Diamantidis was voted as the Euroleague Final Four MVP.
The point guard, who was on Saturday night honored as the Euroleague Player of the Year, had 16 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals.
In Friday’s 77-69 semi-final win over Montepaschi Siena, Diamantidis had eight points, nine assists and two steals.
Diamantidis is well on his way to legendary status in the game.
He was the Euroleague Final Four MVP of 2007 after leading Pana past CSKA Moscow in the title game in Athens and was also a member of the Greece side that shocked the United States in the Semi-Finals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
Maccabi, who thrashed Real Madrid in their semi-final on Friday, went in front for the first time since the opening quarter when Schortsanitis caught a pass on the low blocks and scored.
Drew Nicholas replied for Panathinaikos.
He hit a go-ahead jumper before Sato, a star at Afrobasket 2009 with his country, threw in a couple of daggers from long range.
His third shot from the arc at the end of the frame gave the Greens a 54-43 lead.
After the lead ballooned to 14 in the fourth quarter, Lior Eliyahu, who had no points in the first three quarters in less than five minutes, erupted for 12 in the fourth.
His last basket closed the gap to 74-70 with 19 seconds to play but Maccabi had to foul Mike Batiste and the all-Euroleague First Team selection made both free-throws with 12.6 seconds remaining to seal the triumph.
Panathinaikos, who beat Maccabi in the 2000 FIBA EuroLeague Final in Thessaloniki, captured their third title in the last five years and sixth overall.
Antonis Fotsis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Diamantidis and Batiste have played on all three of those sides.
Zeljko Obradovic, who has more wins in Euroleague history than any other coach, now has eight titles in the competition.
He won with Partizan Belgrade in 1992, DKV Joventut in 1994, Real Madrid in 1995 and now has five championships with Panathinaikos.
Source : www.fiba.com
Judul : EUROLEAGUE – GREEN DAY! Panathinaikos hold off Maccabi Tel Aviv to capture European crown
Deskripsi : BARCELONA ( Euroleague ) - Romain Sato suffered only disappointment at Euroleague Final Fours in his days as a sharpshooting guard with ...