VEF Riga, Latvia vs. «Khimki» Khimki, Russia

Khimki defeated VEF on the road, 89-79. The visitors rode 3-point shooting to a big 1st-quarter lead and had no trouble holding off the Latvians for a third consecutive win. Moscow Region defeats VEF once again and continues battling for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Recap
New Khimki boss Dusko Ivanovic is getting his team to fire on all cylinders. Moscow Region picked up valuable wins over Zenit and Olympiacos earlier in the week and looked to preserve a 14-0 record vs. Latvia's VEF on Sunday.

Riga came out firing, intent on finally defeating its Moscow Region rival. The Latvians shut down Khimki's big men and showed poise on offense. But Khimki's snipers would not be silenced. Alexey Shved connected three times from downtown in the first three minutes and the visitors went on to shoot 8-11 from beyond the arc in the 1st quarter. Khimki led 30-23 at the end of the opening period.

VEF's perimeter defense improved in the 2nd quarter and the home team succeeded in matching Khimki shot for shot, keeping the deficit at seven at the break.

Though VEF kept battling, Khimki had no trouble maintaining a 10-point advantage throughout the second half. Moscow Region ultimately secured an 89-79 victory and improved to 19-8, half a game back of 3rd-place Lokomotiv-Kuban.

Star Player
Josh Boone. Khimki won because of its depth. Boone made a huge contribution, recording a double-double (16 points on 8-11 shooting, 12 rebounds) and performing a lot of the dirty work on defense.

Stat of the Game
8 - number of Khimki 3-pointers in the 1st quarter. Moscow Region's snipers laid the foundation for the road win.

Snapshot