Shved fires Khimki to road win in Bamberg
Khimki Moscow Region rode 28 points from Alexey Shved to snatch a 70-74 road win over Brose Bamberg in a hard-fought contest which leaves the Russian team at 9-7 in the standings, while Brose drops to 6-10 with a fourth straight loss. The first quarter was an offensive exhibition from both teams, ending 26-26, but defenses were firmly on top for the rest of a disjointed game which saw the host fail to score a single field goal in the final 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Shved was once again the difference-maker, netting 5 three-pointers in his total of 28 points and also dishing 6 assists. Malcolm Thomas also made a big contribution with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, while Tyler Honeycutt combined 10 points and 5 rebounds. Brose’s main source of offense was Dorell Wright, who converted 5-of-9 triples to score 20 points and also gathered 10 rebounds. Daniel Hackett scored 12 points and Augustine Rubit added 10 in defeat.
A triple from Wright opened the scoring, and Hackett netted 5 consecutive points to give Bamberg an 8-2 lead. Shved scored his first 8 points in a hurry as Leon Radosevic added a pair of baskets at the other end, and a three-point play from Rubit kept Brose ahead. Thomas, Wright and Shved all hit triples, and Rubit made four free throws after Anthony Gill committed an unsportsmanlike foul. Honeycutt and Stefan Markovic sank three-pointers to give Khimki its first lead, and Shved laid up in transition before Wright netted three free throws to make it 26 apiece after ten minutes. Another three-pointer from Shved started the second quarter, but Wright responded in kind with his third triple and Maodo Lo soon added another downtown strike. Egor Vyaltsev was ejected for two unsportsmanlike fouls and Brose moved further ahead with another triple from Lucca Staiger, but Honeycutt reduced the deficit with another three-point conversion. Wright returned from the bench to score yet another triple, before Thomas netted a rare two-pointer, and after defenses dominated the next few minutes it was 42-40 at the break.
Predictably, the second half scoring opened with a three-pointer, this time from James Anderson, before Lo, Radosevic and Wright responded from close range. It was exceptionally low scoring, with only 11 points in the first 6 minutes of the third quarter, but then Shved twice assisted Thomas and scored himself for Khimki to go ahead, 50-53. Dejan Musli netted from close range and Nikos Zisis from deep to restore Brose’s lead, but after free throws Shved opened the fourth quarter with a lay-up to tie it at 58 apiece, and Markovic sank a triple to give Khimki the edge. Ricky Hickman scored his first basket of the night but Andrey Zubkov and Shved added further triples, making it 60-68. Wright sank a much-needed triple for Brose and Hackett drove for a lay-up, and Hickman tied it from the free-throw line. But then Brose’s offense totally stalled and two-pointers from Zubkov and Honeycutt made it 69-73 with two minutes remaining. Rubit scored a free throw to narrow the gap as Thomas fouled out, but Brose couldn’t take any of its several opportunities to score again and Khimki grabbed the win.
Friday, January 5, 2018
Euroleague.net