Euroleague. Qualifying round. Caserta vs. BC Khimki21 september 2010

First game of Euroleague 2010/2011 1st qualifying round BC Khimki played in Italian city Caserta with the local team. Due to Keith Langford’s 19 points our players won in a bitter struggle – 77-74 (18-14, 16-24, 18-16, 25-20). The return game will be held on Friday, September 24, at 19:00 Moscow time in the basketball center of Moscow region.

BC Khimki best scorers: Langford (19), Fridzon (13), Eze (11 + 7 rebounds).

Starting kick-off in the arena PalaMaggiò in Italy and the 2010/11 season for BC Khimki is opened! Our starting five is: Planinić, Langford, Kelati, Monya and Eze.

Thomas Kelati brings first team points from a three-point field line, which is now, according to new rules, 50 cm further from the basket. Then Eze kicked the ball. As for the Italians they had some troubles in the starting period of the game. They managed to open the scoring only after three and a half minutes after the start of the match, and even – by penalty shots.

Meanwhile BC Khimki players continued kicking the ball into the basket: Monya, then Langford and the score is 10-3. Caserta ad locum braced itself up (12-7), and Scariolo let out the pitch Dmitriev, Lopez and Savrasenko. After some time a new BC Khimki captain Vitaly Fridzon appeared. 18-14 – and the yellow and blue are leading after first ten minutes.

After a short break Loncar and Panin came to a game. Thus, by the beginning of the second quarter only Zaytsev didn’t take part in the game. Such rotation in the first official match of the season – is natural for the updated team.

As BC Khimki head coach Sergio Scariolo stated before the match, yet, due to objective reasons, it would be not easy to find the ideal mutual understanding within the squad. In the mid-quarter Caserta first took the lead – 26-25. Due to exact penalties and our players’ blunders, the Italians by a big break began to lead – 38-34.

The third quarter opens with our starting five. Eze puts on a spurt and the score is equal – 40-40. Benjamin dominates under the shield: he scores, and he is better on the rebounds. Scariolo is trying new ways of interaction among players – as a result “fresh” Lopez and Kelati made consecutive accurate throws from a distance – 52-51.

In the final quarter Lopez and Dmitriev scored three-pointers, Fridzon brought to the team 3 points in one attack. However, Caserta reduced the lag to -3 for two and a half minutes before the final siren. 74-74 for a few seconds before the end of the match. At the last moment Langford throws three-pointer. Bravo, Keith! Wonderful victory of BC Khimki – 77-74.