Khimki Moscow Region keeps pressure on in VTB

Three games opened Round 21 of the VTB United League, and with reigning champs and league leaders CSKA Moscow not in action this round, it is a perfect opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap. There were three top class games on Wednesday, including a chance for Khimki Moscow Region to stick close to CSKA and the club did just that to consolidate its second place in the VTB standings.

In the other games, Unics Kazan continued its good recent form, while Zenit St. Petersburg cruised to a home win to remain in the hunt near the top of the standings.

Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd vs. Khimki Moscow Region, 80-94
Khimki looked good as it brushed aside Krasny Oktyabr away from home. The victory kept the club in second place, now with an 18-2 record, and was a fourth consecutive win for the club. There is a growing feeling that Khimki Moscow Region can beat city rival CSKA Moscow to the VTB crown this season, but of course CSKA remains a formidable obstacle.

The visitors signalled their intentions early on and paced to a 17-21 lead through 10 minutes. In the second act Krasny Oktyabr proved it is no push over in Volgograd and blitzed Khimki 25-15 to lead 42-36 at the midway point. In the third quarter the Moscow contingent found a new wind and drained 30 points while holding the hosts at 15, enough to make it 57-66 after 30 minutes. In the fourth quarter the away team continued the heavy scoring and crossed the finish line with the win.

Six players scored more than 10 points for the winners, with Tyrese Rice leading the way with 18 points and 6 assists. He was followed by Paul Davis with 17 points, 13 apiece from James Augustine and Tyler Honeycutt, 12 points for Petteri Kponen, and finally 11 points for Sergei Monya.

Lamont Hamilton topped Krasny with 22 points, while Randy Culpepper continued his hot form with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Also in double figures for the losing team was Donnie McGrath with 19 points.

Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Krasnye Krylia Samara, 83-52
Zenit St. Petersburg demolished Krasnye Krylia in Russia’s second city to maintain its push in the chasing pack. The big victory was enough to push the club to fifth place with a 13-5 record. Zenit crushed the hosts from the bench by scoring 48 points to just 4 points from Samara, while Zenit led by 48 points at one point. A night to forget for Krasnye Krylia as the club never led the game and lost with nothing more than a whimper.

Every player on the Zenit game roster found the bucket during the game, including Walter Hodge with 15 points and Evgeny Valiev with 14 points.

Vitaliy Zuev paced the losing effort 15 points, but the hosts simply could not spread the points around enough.

Unics Kazan vs. Tsmoki Minsk, 84-70
The game between Unics Kazan and Belarussian giant Tsmoki Minsk was close throughout, but the Russian hosts never really looked like losing. The Kazan based outfit controlled much of the game and held the lead for long periods on the hardwood. The hosts had a big game in the paint and looked good down low to keep an eye on the top of the VTB standings with a 13-8 record, while Minsk stays last in the table with a 3-16 record.

Pavel Antipov and Keith Langford led the way for the winning effort with 22 points each, while Petr Gubanov notched 11 points.

Branko Mirkovic maintained a consistent thorn in Unics’ side with a big attacking game that yielded a game high 26 points and 6 assists.