By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With an impressive performance in the first half, Khimki easily beat Barcelona 75-61 and claimed a crucial victory. This was the fifth win for the hosts (5-4), whereas the visitors suffered their fifth defeat (4-5).
For the winners, Alexey Shved had 16 points and five assists, as three more players scored in double figures. On the other hand, Justin Doellman made another decent performance for the losing squad, with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Khimki made a great start to the game and quickly took a double-digit advantage (22-11), with the first quarter ending with the Russians in front by 10 (24-14), as the hosts were playing very well, both defensively and offensively.
Later, Khimki extended its lead to 20 points (37-18, 45-25) and closed the first half with a 19-point advantage (48-29), as the Spaniards were playing mediocre on both ends of the floor.
In the second half, things didn’t change much. Rimas Kurtinaitis’ players continued to have control of the game (54-33, 56-41) and easily retained a double-digit lead, after 30 minutes in the game (61-43).
In the fourth quarter, Barcelona tried to fight back and went on a 7-14 run to cut the deficit to eleven (68-57), however they ran out of time and the Russians secured a crucial win (75-61). The “Blaugrana”, though, still have the upper hand over their opponents, as they lost with fewer than 17 points.