London 2012, Prelim Round, Game 2

GROUP B

China 54-73 Russia

Andrei Kirilenko and Viktor Khryapa - RussiaRussia took a huge step forwards to reach the Quarterfinals in Group B by downing China 54-73 early on Tuesday. Russia went up to 0-2 while China dropped to 0-2. Reigning Euroleague MVP Andrei Kirilenko led the winners with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Alexey Shved had 14 and 6 assists, CSKA center Sasha Kaun added 13 and 4 blocks, Timofey Mozgov got 10 points while former All-Euroleague first team choice Viktor Khryapa of CSKA had an all-around game with 7 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Yi Jianlian led China with 16 points and 4 blocks. Russia had a slow start but free throws by CSKA guard Anton Ponkrashov gave his team its first lead, 4-5. Russia found a go-to guy in Shved, who got some help from Kirilenko and Khryapa to boost the Russian lead to 12-20 after 10 minutes. Wang Zhizhi and Jianlian tried to ignite the Chinese comeback but a layup-plus-foul by Kirilenko and a three-pointer by Shved made it a double-digit game, 15-26. Russia found a new go-to guy in BC Khimki forward Sergey Monya and 8 unanswered points by an unstoppable Kirilenko broke the game open, 21-40. A fast break layup by Lui Wei and a huge dunk by Jianlian fixed the halftime score at 25-40. Shipeng Wang and Sun Yue shined after the break but China only managed to trade baskets for some minutes. Vitaly Fridzon of Khimki and a free throw by Kaun made it a 20-point game, 30-50. Russia boosted its margin to 39-61 after 30 minutes and did not find much trouble to seal an unquestionable win.

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