By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Khimki Moscow Region got a valuable 78-69 victory on the road against AX Armani Exchange Milan and fights up its way in the standings, in playoffs sight with an 11-14 record as of Round 25 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The Russian side had also won their Round 8 clash in Moscow, while there is a four-way tie for the eighth spot, between Khimki, Milano, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce.
“It is important because we had a lot of good games, but we had bad endings. Today we controlled the whole game and the ending was good for the win, so we are happy. It is important to win, it does not matter who against. But in this situation, it is surely good to get a win against Milan”, were coach Rimas Kurtinaitis’ remarks after the game.
Alexey Shved and Jonas Jerebko stepped up for the winning side once again in crunch-time, helping Khimki maintain its advantage late in the fourth period.
Shved exited the court with 18 points and six assists, while Jerebko tapped a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. “It feels great. We know it is a very big win. Probably the most important game of the season so far”, mentioned Jerebko.
Khimki sets sights to the playoffs
Khimki entered the court with great momentum, leading 21-16 after the first 10 minutes. The hosts’ reaction was quick in the second period, and they managed to trim the deficit to 38-39 at halftime, behind Rodriguez. Khimki soon recovered its ground after the break, with Shved and Devin Booker (12 points) stepping up to place the Russian side ahead 59-51 at the end of the third quarter.
Sergio Rodriguez led Milano’s efforts but his 18-point performance wasn’t enough to save the day in the final period, although the hosts trimmed the deficit to a single-digit one. Kaleb Tarczewski also stepped up with 12 points and 9 assists for the hosts with an impactful presence on the court, even though they couldn’t reach the victory in the end.
Photo: EuroLeague