Khimki Moscow Region benefited from a true team effort to defeat Banvit Bandirma 93-89 on Wednesday to earn Eurocup Finals to the Eurocup Finals. Two of the catalysts in that win, blue-collar defensive standout James Augustine and offensive dynamo Tyrese Rice, share the honors as Eurocup Semifinals Game 2 co-MVPs. They each posted performance index ratings of 22, which were the highest in Game 2 of the semifinals of any players on a winning team. Augustine played just under 20 minutes and scored only 8 points, but still made a huge impact with 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots. Rice made 4 of 8 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws en route to a game-high 28 points. The week’s top overall index rating came from Banvit’s Sammy Mejia, who posted a 29 in that same game. Mejia scored 25 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting. The week’s other top performers were Unics Kazan’s D’Or Ficher with an index rating of 21 and his teammate James White in a rating of 20 in their team’s 78-76 loss at Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas.

Individual leaders: Eulis Baez of Gran Canaria, 11 rebounds

Rice’s 28 points were the most of the week. Gran Canaria forward Eulis Baez topped the week’s rebounding chart with 11. Four players – Tomas Bellas of Gran Canaria, Sergey Bykov of Unics Kazan, Banvit’s Chuck Davis and Khimki’s Sergey Monia – shared the weekly lead with 5 assists each. Six players had 2 steals in Semifinals Game 2. And Augustine was the week’s top shot-blocker with 3.