BC Khimki Moscow Region is the second finalist of the Kaunas Nike International Junior Tournament. In the do-or.die game against Canarias Basketball Academy, the Russian side prevailed by 65-55 and finished atop Group B with a perfect 3-0 record. On the other hand, Canarias dropped to 1-2 and will play one of the consolation games on Sunday. Khimki will be facing host Zalgiris in the final on Sunday at 16:30 CET. The winners dominated throughout the game even though Canarias never surrendered and even got closer in the third period, but the good defense of the Russians made sure that Khimki advanced. The winners were led by Oleg Alferovs 13 points while Vasiliy Martynov and Stainslav IlNitskiy posted 12 apiece. For Canarias, Shane Hammick led all scorers with 19 points and Simon Krajkovic added 13.
The first quarter started with both teams close to each other and good defense on both sides, leaving the score 18-13 after 10 minutes. Same thing happened in the second quarter, but thanks to defense, Khimki was starting to build a significant lead by the halftime break, 36-27. The Russians dominated the rebounds battle throughout the 40 minutes. However, in the next period, Canarias seemed to come together and pressed hard behind and had Hammick leading the way to trim the deficit down to 48-42 after three. In the final period, Khimki regrouped and managed the lead, even increased it, to claim its spot in the final game against Zalgiris.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Euroleague.net
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