2016-17Regular SeasonRound 2
October 19, 2016 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 FERNANDO MARTIN
Marko Popovic - Montakit Fuenlabrada - EC16 (photo Fuenlabrada - Emilio Cobos)

Popovic drops 22 on Khimki, leads Fuenlabrada to big win

Montakit Fuenlabrada grabbed its first win in Group B by edging Khimki Moscow Region 89-85 at home on Wednesday. It was Fuenlabrada's first EuroCup win since January 17, 2003 - the Spanish powerhouse played the competition's original season and did not return for 13 years. Both teams are now tied in Group B each with 1-1 records. Two-time EuroCup champion Marko Popovic paced the winners with 22 points against his former team. Ivan Paunic added 15 while Moussa Diagne had 12 points and 9 rebounds for Fuenlabrada. Sergey Monia led Khimki with 18 points. E.J. Rowland added 15 while Egor Vialtsev and Stanislav Ilnitskiy each had 10 for the guests. Khimki visits ALBA Berlin in Round 3 of the regular season, in which Fuenlabrada has a bye.

Popovic and Diagne shined early as Fuenlabrada jumped to a 14-4 start. Vialtsev and Jacob Pullen stepped up for Khimki and free throws by Nobel Boungou-Colo brought the guests as close as 17-13, but Paunic followed a triple with a big basket for a 24-14 Fuenlabrada lead after 10 minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers by Valeri Likhodey caused the hosts to call timeout at 26-22 early in the second quarter. Monia also struck from downtown, but Pako Cruz, Paunic and Chema Gonzalez kept the hosts ahead, 35-30. A layup by Rowland fixed the halftime score at 40-34. Monia followed a triple with a six-meter jumper after which Fuenlabrada called timeout at 42-41, soon after the break. Hakanson and David Wear buried consecutive bombs from downtown, but an unstoppable Monia completed Khimki's comeback at 49-50 with a catch-and-shoot jumper. Popovic stepped up with 5 unanswered points and got help from Paunic to restore a 59-57 Fuenlabrada lead after 30 minutes. Llorca and Carlos Cabezas combined for all the points in an 8-0 run that gave Fuenlabrada a 69-61 margin with over seven minutes left. Vialtsev took over with a four-point play and Stanislav Ilnitskiy also struck from downtown to bring Khimki within 69-68. Another 9-0 run that Blagota Sekulic capped with free throws seemed to seal the outcome, 78-68, with four minutes to go. Ilnitskiy and Rowland, however, brought the guests back in the game at 80-78. Popovic and Diagne combined for 5-of-6 free throws and even though Khimki never gave up, a big triple by Popovic sealed the outcome.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Eurocupbasketball.com
No results found.
Referees: PATERNICO, CARMELO; ROMANO, DAVID; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 2790
By Quarter1234
Montakit Fuenlabrada24161930
Khimki Moscow Region14202328
End of Quarter1234
Montakit Fuenlabrada24405989
Khimki Moscow Region14345785
Montakit Fuenlabrada
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 POPOVIC, MARKO 25:24 22 2/5 3/7 9/9   1 1 1       1 1 6 21
4 O'LEARY, IAN 17:00 4 2/2 0/1   1 2 3 1 1       5   3
6 HAKANSON, LUDDE 22:19 7 2/4 1/4         1   1   1 2 1  
8 LLORCA, ALEX 9:47 5 1/2 1/1         1 1       2 1 5
9 SEKULIC, BLAGOTA 18:04 6 2/6   2/2   2 2     2       2 4
10 CABEZAS, CARLOS 18:06 4 0/1 1/3 1/2   1 1 2 2 2     2 1 2
11 CRUZ, PAKO 6:43 3 1/1 0/1 1/1   1 1     1     2 1 1
12 WEAR, DAVID 10:45 3 0/2 1/2     3 3     1     1 1 2
13 SMITS, ROLANDS 24:26 6 1/1 0/2 4/7 2 3 5 2 1 1     1 3 10
15 GONZALEZ, CHEMA 6:00 2 1/1   0/2 3 4 7   1 3     2 2 5
21 DIAGNE, MOUSSA 15:04 12 1/1   10/15 2 7 9   1 1 1   2 8 23
31 PAUNIC, IVAN 26:22 15 4/5 2/6 1/2 1 1 2 2   2     3 2 10
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 89 17/31 9/27 28/40 11 26 37 10 7 14 1 2 23 28 89
        54.8% 33.3% 70%
Head coach: CUSPINERA, JOTA
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PULLEN, JACOB 16:41 9 3/7 1/2 0/1   1 1 2   3       2 5
5 CARTER, JUSTIN 7:20   0/1 0/1     1 1           3 1 -3
7 PATEEV, RUSLAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV 23:52 8 2/5 0/2 4/6   2 2 6   1 1   4 6 11
9 VIALTSEV, EGOR 19:10 10 3/5 1/3 1/3   2 2 1 1 1     2 1 6
10 SOKOLOV, DMITRY 12:23   0/1     1 3 4     2     2 1  
11 ILNITSKIY, STANISLAV 17:27 10 3/3 1/1 1/3 1 2 3 1         4 2 10
12 MONIA, SERGEY 24:45 18 2/3 4/5 2/2 2 4 6 1 1 1     5 1 19
13 LIKHODEI, VALERII 21:32 9 1/4 2/3 1/2 3 3 6     2       2 10
16 BOUNGOU-COLO, NOBEL 13:56 2 0/3 0/2 2/3 1 2 3     1   1 2 2 -3
19 TODOROVIC, MARKO 17:41 4 2/2     2 3 5 1     1   5   6
22 ROWLAND, EARL 25:13 15 5/11 0/1 5/5 1   1 5 1 2     1 4 16
Team           1 2 3     3          
Totals 200:00 85 21/45 9/20 16/25 12 25 37 17 3 16 2 1 28 22 77
        46.7% 45% 64%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

CUSPINERA, JOTA
Montakit Fuenlabrada
"It was a very tough game. I have to congratulate my players because we did a great job in intensity and aggressiveness, and especially on defense. We even played a good game on offense. We started intense, that gave us a little advantage of 6-7 points. For sure Khimki started playing with two fours on the court at the same time, which caused us a little bit of trouble. When they popped up they scored easy three-pointers because we were trying to protect the rim. But we kept playing defense, kept believing in ourselves. We got back in the third quarter. We hit a few baskets that gave us a chance for calm situation at the end of the game. We got two fast breaks from very good defense, and a 10-point gap with 4 minutes left to play. We thought it is enough, but this is a very good team and they came back with two three-pointers and a three-point play so we were back in a tight game. But Sekulic and Popovic with their character kept us in tough moments believing, and scoring. We really looked like the team we were looking to be."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Khimki Moscow Region
“In the first minutes, Montakit Fuenlabrada surprised us and they got an advantage in the first quarter of the game. We need to be patient to improve in this competition, this is only the second round. We will play many games like this, really close and decided by small details.”

Players

SEKULIC, BLAGOTA
Montakit Fuenlabrada
"It was a very important and tough game. It was an important game for us, we needed this victory. We beat one very good team in Khimki, which is of the best teams in this competition. We are really optimistic about our performance tonight, and in the future. Good things are happening, we are improving, which is great."