Trajan Langdon is going back to the European Final Four.
The former NBA player from Anchorage recently led his Russian professional basketball team, CSKA, into the semifinals of the Euroleague championship for the second straight season.
The Euroleague Final Four begins May 4 in Athens. The other three teams include tournament host Panathinaikos of Greece, and Tau Ceramica and Unicaja of Spain. The championship is May 6.
Last year, Langdon’s team won the title with a 73-69 victory over defending champion Maccabi Tel Aviv after the Alaskan sank the clinching free throws with just 5.8 seconds to play.
He continues to deliver in big games this time around as well. Last week, Langdon netted a team-high 20 points to fuel CSKA’s 92-71 victory in the final of the best-of-3 qualifying series.
Langdon did most of his damage from three-point range, where he drained 4 of 5. It should come as no surprise to see him shooting the ball so well from the perimeter.
The 30-year-old guard is typically the best shooter on his team - no matter what league. He earned the nickname “Alaskan Assassin” from ESPN analyst Dick Vitale during his All-American career at Duke.
According to the Euroleague Web site, “Langdon continued to fire away before leaving to a standing ovation.”
For the season, Langdon was second on his team in scoring (13.4) and third in rebounding (4.1) in 29.4 minutes per game.
He shot .936 from the free-throw line and .429 from three-point land.
This will be CSKA’s record fifth consecutive trip to the Euroleague Final Four and the third of Langdon’s five-year international career.
In 2003, the former East High star helped Italian power Benetton Trevisio reach the championship game.
Daily News reporter Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@adn.com.
