BC Khimki became the first team to reach
the Last 16 after downing PAOK Thessaloniki 89-65 on Tuesday afternoon
in Group B.
Khimki is still unbeaten with a 4-0 record, while PAOK has
just one win so far. Thomas Kelati led five Khimki scorers in double
figures with 16 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting, Vitaly Fridzon
bagged 14, Sergey Monya and Zoran Planinic netted 13 apiece, while
Kresmir Loncar amassed 13 points and 11 rebounds. Dimos Dikoudis scored
13 points for PAOK, Rashad Wright added 11 and Michalis Giannakidis 8. A
14-2 second-quarter Khimki run made it 36-23 at halftime. Marcus Goree
closed the gap to 45-41 early in the third quarter, but a 24-2 Khimki
charge closed the contest and sent the hosts to the next round with a
69-45 lead after 30 minutes.