Brown, Ress keep Montepaschi perfect

Montepaschi Siena remained perfect in Top 16 Group F by coming back from a 14-point early deficit to beat BC Khimki Moscow Region at home 82-76. Siena improved to 3-0 in the group with Bobby Brown leading the way with 20 points, while Tomas Ress collected 16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Matthew Janning added 12 points, Viktor Sanikidze had 11 points and 9 rebounds and David Moss chipped in 10 points for the Italian champs. Khimki dropped to 2-1 and continued its struggles on the road this season, where the team is 2-5 this season. KC Rivers paced Khimki with 13 points off the bench while Kresimir Loncar had 12 points, Sergey Monya and Paul Davis 11 points each and Zoran Planinic was held to 10 points, but did hand out 7 assists in the defeat.

First quarter: Siena uses threes to chip away at 14-point deficit

Siena coach Luca Banchi trusted the same starting five with Brown, Benjamin Eze, Sanikidze, Janning and Moss. Khimki coach Rimas Kurtinaitis sent out the same starters as well in James Augustine, Egor Vyaltsev, Loncar, Monya and Planinic. Loncar opened the scoring for the guests and followed with a jumper while Monya nailed a triple to make it 0-7. Siena finally got on the scoreboard after 2:34 played with a Janning floater in the lane. The Khimki run continued with Vyaltsev and Monya scoring, resulting in a Montepaschi timeout down 2-11. Planinic finished a fast break layup and then Vyaltsev stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and converted a three-point play for a 2-16 Khimki advantage after five minutes of action. Janning nailed a long three before Augustine pushed the lead back to 5-18. But Siena began a comeback with Brown finally scoring on a layup and then Sanikidze hitting on the fast break and Moss draining a long ball from the right wing for a 12-18 game. Paul Davis twice scored inside to re-establish an eight-point lead until Ress and Brown nailed three-pointers to make it 20-22. After a Khimki timeout, Rivers came off the bench for a basket and a three-ball from the left side to give the Russian side a 20-27 cushion after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Montepaschi pulls even but Khimki ahead at break

Davis started the scoring in the second quarter with two foul shots and was answered by a triple from Moss. Vitaly Fridzon would increase the margin to 23-32 before Moss and Aleksandar Razic nailed three-balls to make it 29-32. After both sides went scoreless for a couple of minutes, Fridzon banked his shot off the glass from left side for a 29-34 lead , which was pushed to 30-36 on Loncar’s inside score. Brown however hit back-to-back long three-pointers to tie the game at 36-36. Loncar and Ress swapped baskets before Fridzon’s three-ball gave Khimki a 39-41 advantage going into the locker room.

Third quarter: Siena uses six-point possession to take lead late

After Janning knotted the game at 41-41 with a baseline jumper to start the second half, Davis answered with an inside basket. But Janning nailed a three-ball to give the hosts their first lead of the game at 44-43. Khimki regained the lead with a Loncar score and a Planinic basket and Augustine completed a three-point play to open up a 44-50 Khimki cushion. Siena bounced right back with a 6-0 run of its own – starting with Janning’s driving layup and ending with Sanikidze evening it at 50-50. Sanikidze and Brown both made two free throws for a 54-52 Siena lead before Rivers sandwiched a jumper and a three-ball around a Planinic lay-up for a 54-59 Khimki lead – and a Montepaschi timeout. Siena took the lead on a single possession as Ress was fouled and Khimki was hit with a technical foul. Ress and Brown both converted twice from the foul line and Ress hit a jumper on the ensuing possession for a 60-59 lead. Rivers split two free throws for the 60-60 score after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Kangur hits 2 big threes, Ress ices game with 4 free throws late

Rivers’s driving layup and Monya’s three gave Khimki a 60-65 lead but Daniel Hackett scored and Brown converted a driving layup and one before Sanikidze put back an offensive rebound to give Siena a 67-65 lead. Fridzon evened the game and Monya nailed a trey from the left wing but Kristjan Kangur dropped two three-pointers to knot the game and then give his team a 73-72 lead. After Khimki failed to score, Hackett hit a driving lay-up to put Montepaschi ahead 75-72. Loncar hit inside but Brown ran down the clock and scored on the drive with 55 seconds left for a 77-74 Siena lead. Fridzon sandwiched two missed three-balls from the right corner around a Moss free throw before Ress made two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining for an 80-74 cushion. Ress was on target for two more free throws with 11 seconds to ice the game with an 82-75 advantage.