Khimki opens Garastas Cup with win

Khimki Moscow Region opened the Garastas Cup with victory by downing Budivelnyk Kiev in the Lithuanian based pre-season tournament. A comfortable 102-77 victory saw the Russian team build momentum for what will be another busy season in the VTB League and Eurocup. As for troubled club Budivelnyk Kiev, a season without continental competition is ready to get underway, a rare thing for the Ukrainian powerhouse.

Khimki raced into a lead during a classy first quarter that saw the Russian team carve out a 22-15 lead to lead the way after ten minutes. Kiev stormed straight back into the contest in the second stanza, outscoring their Moscow based opponents to reduce the deficit to three points at halftime. Heading into the long break, Khimki held tight to a 43-40 lead. The third quarter proved decisive as the Russians found a hot streak to pour in 33 points, holding Budivelnyk to 20 points to lead 76-60 at the final split. The 16 point cushion was built on as the Muscovites scored 24 points to ease down the stretch to victory.

Sergey Monya led the Khimki victory with 15 points, while Marko Popovic took 14, and Tyrese Rice 13.

Oleksandr Lypovyy was the big scorer in the game, nabbing 20 points in the losing effort. He was followed by Oleksandr Kolchenko with 16 points.