VTB League: Khimky stuns CSKA with late three

VTB League

There were only two games on tap in the VTB League this Sunday, but fans were not short-changed as far as action was concerned. CSKA Moscow (11-2) lost to undefeated group leader, BC Khimky Moscow Region (13-0), 87-90. Meanwhile Kazakhstan’s BC Astana (5-8) steamrolled over Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd (4-8) in what ended up as a 20-point landslide victory, 106-86.

BC Khimky Moscow Region vs. CSKA Moscow, 90-87

CSKA and Khimky are the top dogs in the VTB’s Group B standings and the game boiled down to which Moscow club would be able to assert its “Alpha” status over the other. CSKA was riding high on the momentum it mustered after recently downing the Spanish “Super Club” Real Madrid in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and took control of the game from the early goings and even held the lead for majority of the match.

Croatian import Kresimir Loncar tied up the game at 87-87 with just a bit of time left on the clock in final period. It was the perfect set-up for James Augustine to swoop in and nail the dagger three and lift up Khimky as time expired. Augustine was not only the hero of the dying seconds of the game, but was actually on fire all throughout the match as he threw down 31 points and seven rebounds for the night. He was perfect from two-point range as he sank all 11 of his attempts and his last-second long-bomb was his only attempt from deep for the night. He clearly had the number on whoever CSKA assigned to him on defense that game. He was one of five Khimky players who scored in double figures. He along with two other players did their damage off the bench Petteri Koponen chipped in 14 points while Marko Popovic did an impressive job with 11 points and 11 assists. Starters Sergey Monya and Kresimir Loncar added 12 and 10 points respectively.

CSKA’s star Milos Teodosic’s 29 points and seven assists were not enough to provide an ample enough buffer for his team. Vladimire Micov and Sasha Kaun added 14 points each off the bench and Andrey Vorontsevich contributed 12 points which he collected all from beyond the three-point arc.