By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Charles Jenkins started the job in the first half, Dee Bost continued it in the second and Khimki Moscow Region registered a convincing 99-70 road win against Herbalife Gran Canaria in Round 16 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Both squads now hold a 6-10 record.
Bost led the winning charge with 20 points while Jenkins followed with 18 in addition to Jordan Mickey’s 16 points. Stefan Markovic scored five points but was in charge of Khimki’s playmaking with nine dished assists.
For Gran Canaria, Marcus Eriksson scored 14 while D.J. Strawberry added 13 and Siim-Sander Vene 12 points.
The gamesome hosts opened the match better as they nailed all five of their shots from behind the arc in the quite effective first ten minutes (30-23) and three of those baskets came from Kim Tillie. However, the situation completely turned in favor of Khimki in the second quarter as they allowed Gran Canaria to score only six points while banking 27 themselves and went on the halftime rest with a big 50-36 lead.
Khimki boss Georgios Bartzokas was satisfied with how his players took over the game: “After the first quarter in which we allowed 30 points to Gran Canaria, in the second quarter we allowed six. Different approach defensively, and we found the rhythm from our good defense. We had great creativity, found a lot of open looks and dominated the game.”
After the break, the Russian squad continued where they left off making a 12-3 run at the start of the second half (62-39) and never looked back increasing the distance until the very end. Gran Canaria just couldn’t find an answer to their great ball movement as Khimki dished 29 assists in total compared to hosts’ 15.
“We started the game with good energy and good percentage, especially in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they increased the physical level. They are a very physical team. We couldn’t play at this level and they created a big difference. In the second half, we tried to play faster, to recover but we weren’t at the physical level needed to compete against teams like this”, Gran Canaria coach Victor Garcia explained.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague