Zalgiris defeated by Khimki on the road 80
Khimki Moscow Region bounced back from a tough overtime loss by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 83-74 at home on Friday.
Stefan Jovic and Alexey Shved led the winners with 25 points apiece, and Jeremy Evans added 10.
Jock Landale led Zalgiris with a personal-best 24 points while Thomas Walkup scored 10.
KC Rivers hit a jumper and Edgaras Ulanovas added a layup to give Zalgiris an early 2-4 lead. Shved stepped up for Khimki, scoring 6 points in an 11-0 run highlighted by Booker’s dunk. Walkup answered from downtown, igniting a 0-9 run in which Landale had the next 6 points to tie the game, 13-13. Jonas Jerebko rescued Khimki with a layup and Shved added a stop-and-pop jumper but Arturas Milaknis struck from beyond the arc for a 17-16 score. An alley-oop dunk by Evans and a fast break slam by Gill restored a 21-16 Khimki lead after 10 minutes.
Lukas Lekavicius bettered Chris Kramer’s jumper with a triple early in the second quarter, but Evans sank a jumper and Jovic added a three-pointer to boost the hosts’ lead. Milaknis and Jovic traded baskets, then Landale brought the guests a bit closer, 30-25. Evans and Gill kept pacing Khimki but Landale and Nigel Hayes kept Zalgiris within 38-33 at halftime.
Zach LeDay scored off the baseline immediately after the break and Landale added a layup to make it a one-point game, 38-37. Shved and Jovic tried to change things for the hosts but Walkup and Landale kept Zalgiris within 42-40. Evans dunked and Jonas Jerebko found his first points, before Lekavicius buried an off-balance floater and Jovic delivered a bomb from downtown. Lekavicius kept pacing Zalgiris, getting help from Hayes and Landale to tie the game, 49-49. But Jovic scored in penetration and Shved downed consecutive triples for a 57-49 Khimki lead after 30 minutes.
Jovic netted from beyond the arc early in the fourth to make it a double-digit game. Rivers followed a layup with a three-pointer to give Zalgiris hope, 60-54, with 8 minutes left. An unstoppable Jovic answered from downtown and added a driving layup that made the guests stop the game at 65-54. Jovic sank his fifth three-pointer and Shved copied him for a 71-59 Khimki lead with 4 minutes left. LeDay dunked in traffic and Walkup added a layup but Khimki had already started to run down the game clock and a fast break basket by Kramer sealed the outcome with two minutes to go.
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