Regal FC Barcelona beat BC Khimki Moscow, 94-87, in a thrilling opening game of the Ciutat de L’Hospitalet Tournament in Group A on Tuesday. Josep Perez paced Barcelona with 24 points and 5 assists, while Lluis Costa added 19 points, Aitor Gomez scored 17 and tallied 13 rebounds, Oriol Pauli scored 10 and Nacho Marin recorded 9 points and 8 boards. Alexander Zakharov was the star for Khimki, netting 25 points and going 5 of 9 from beyond the arc, while Roman Afanasyev scored 18, Denis Levshin added 14 points and Stanislav Ilnitskiy tallied 13. Barcelona cruised to a 47-33 lead at the half behind Pauli’s marksmanship beyond the arc, with 3 triples, and Perez’s excellent playmaking at the point guard position. Ilnitskiy, with 9 points, was the only bright spot for Khimki, who pressed on offense and committed too many turnovers, most of them on the fast break. Ball movement remained stellar for Barcelona in the second half, even as young playmaker Bernat Camarassa got some minutes, and the final quarter was reached with a 69-55 score, even as Afanasyev dunked one home for Khimki. The Russian side got within 72-62 thanks to some long range shooting in the fourth, especially by Zakharov, who hit 5 triples overall and 4 in the last 10 minutes to make it a one possession game at 88-87 with under a minute to go. Khimki was within reach, 90-87, with 21 ticks left but committed an offensive foul trying to free up Zakharov and Barcelona sealed the deal from the line.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Euroleague.net
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