Rice helps Khimki return to Eurocup Finals

Khimki Moscow Region needed to sweat it out in the end, but recorded a 93-89 victory to clinch a berth in the 2015 Eurocup Finals. Tyrese Rice scored 28 points, including a pair of free throws with 10.2 seconds to go, to lead Khimki to the victory, which coupled with an 83-82 Banvit triumph in Game 1 gave Khimki a 3-point aggregate win in their two-game total-points series. Khimki was in control with a 12-point advantage with less than a minute to go before Sammy Mejia helped spark a late 0-8 Banvit run, which fell just short. Khimki will play the finals for the third time and first since it won the competition in 2012. Paul Davis added 16 points, Sergey Monia scored 14 on 4-of-6 three-point shooting plus 5 assists and James Augustine posted 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks for the winners. Mejia made 5 of 6 threes for 25 points to lead Banvit. Vladimir Veremeenko scored 15, Chuck Davis 14 and E.J. Rowland 11 for Banvit, which completed its finest Eurocup campaign to date.

Banvit started brilliantly with baskets by Chuck Davis and Veremeenko before a Keith Simmons triple made it 0-7. Nearly three minutes passed before Paul Davis got Khimki on the scoreboard. Sergey Monia continued the Khimki momentum with a three-pointer. Then Ruslan Pateev scored twice inside to even things at 11-11. Petteri Koponen’s three-pointer gave Khimki its first lead, 16-15. Baskets by Egor Vyaltsev and Davis made it 20-15 after 10 minutes. Even though Cam Maxim Mutaf started heating up with 5 points for the visitors, a pair of Augustine baskets further boosted the hosts’ advantage to 7. Veremeenko completed a three-point play, but Khimki retained the momentum through another Augustine slam and a Rice layup that made it 31-23. Banvit rallied back behind a Safak Edge triple and a Mejia jumper to make it 34-30. After a Jimmy Baron triple, Banvit’s deficit was down to 3. Baskets by Pateev and Koponen kept the hosts rolling and Rice’s jumper gave Khimki a 42-35 halftime lead.

Rwland opened the second half with a three-pointer for his first points, but Rice also connected from downtown and Paul Davis gave the hosts their biggest lead yet, 47-38. Chuck Davis and Monia traded threes as the hosts remained in control. The back-to-back threes by Rice and Monia brought the crowd to its feet at 58-45. Rowland and Chuck Davis tried to inspire Banvit. Rowland added a triple and Mejia knocked down two more as the visitors stormed all the back to within 61-58. Vyaltsev stopped the Khimki slide and Paul Davis made it 65-60 through three quarters. Vyaltsev drained a three early in the fourth quarter and when Monia hit one too, it was 71-62. Mejia and Rowland combined to bring Banvit within 4 (3 points on aggregate). However Paul Davis free throws and a three-pointer by Rice put Khimki comfortable in control at 76-67. The roller coaster continued as free throws by Veremeenko and Rowland cut the deficit to 6, but Rice responded with 5 straight points. He then assisted Paul Davis to make it 85-72 with four minutes remaining. Tyler Honeycutt’s slam all but wrapped up the Khimiki victory. Mejia tried with a three-pointer and Chuck Davis made it a 9-point aggregate difference, but was quickly becoming the enemy. Rice made a tough layup and Veremeenko an impressive slam with two minutes to go. Banvit made its run with Mejia free throws and then threes by Mejia and Chuck Davis to get within 91-87 – a 3-point aggregate deficit – with 13 seconds remaining. Rice all but sealed the win with 2 free throws with 10.2 seconds left.