By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow extended its winning streak to eight games in the VTB League with a 96-48 blowout victory against Astana on the road to improve to a 16-3 record and clinch the top seed of the standings.
Dimitris Itoudis’ squad got a headstart into the game, leading 23-8 after 10 minutes, and kept building a strong lead until halftime (27-44). CSKA even extended its lead to 39 points early in the fourth quarter to secure a comfortable win on the road.
Nikola Milutinov stole the show for the visitors, as he posted a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists in less than 19 minutes. Jonas Jerebko scored 12 points and six rebounds in his debut for CSKA after penning a deal with the club for the remainder of the season last week.
Alexey Shved added 16 points for CSKA, Semen Antonov had 14 points and five rebounds, while Allerik Freeman and Aleksandr Khomenko each posted 11 points each.
Mark Tikhonenko had 17 points to lead Astana, which suffered its eighth defeat in a row to drop to 3-15 and will play its last game of the season against Enisey on the road next Sunday.
UNICS ends regular season with a sweep over Avtodor
UNICS Kazan put up a scoring feast to grab a 103-67 victory against Avtodor Saratov at home for their last VTB League regular-season game. UNICS improved to a 16-4 record and will lock its final seed next week when the RS comes to an end.
Zeljko Sakic scored 16 points to lead all players for the hosts, Mario Hezonja posted 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Vyacheslav Zaytcev also had 12.
Pavel Sergeev added 15 points and Eveniy Minchenko followed with 14 for Avtodor which dropped to a 10-8 record after losing its second game in a row.
Photo credit: VTB League on Flickr