CSKA vs Khimki: 104-64

CSKA vs Khimki: 104-64
The Army team’s first Superleague game after the New Year’s break showed that the team has started to seriously get ready for its competitors in the Russian league.

The Moscow suburb team Khimki, led by Russian national team coach Sergey Elevich, were able to put up a fight only at the very beginning of the game(leading 0-4 with two minutes gone) before CSKA got down to business. As in the Olympiakos game, Nikolas Hatzivrettas (12 points in the first half)played well, as did Victor Alexander, as did Darius Songaila, who showed that he has recovered from his injury. At halftime CKSA led by 26 points.

CSKA let their guard down a little in the beginning of the second half, allowing Khimki to cut the lead. But then CSKA’s superior physical conditioning began to play a role. It wasn’t for nothing that the team practically didn’t rest over the New Year’s holidays.

By the way, center Aleksey Savrasenko finally made his CSKA debut in this game. The Russian national team player collected 12 points in 20 minutes(5-6 FGs), 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots (actually, he had four,
but the scoring crew missed one).

In the final quarter, especially for Elevich, Dusan Ivkovic left only Russian players on the floor—Evgeniy and Zakhar Pashutin, Viktor Khryapa, Aleksandr Bashminov and Aleksey Savrasenko. This group of five won this mini-game, winning the fourth quarter 28-13.