FIBA Basketball
UKR - DKV, Khimki reach final
KIEV (EuroCup) - DKV Joventut spoiled the party in Ukraine by pulling away in the fourth quarter to beat EuroCup Final Four hosts BC Kyiv to set up a final clash with BC Khimki on Sunday.DKV prevailed 88-78 after Khimki had won the opening semi-final, 63-61, over Dynamo St Petersburg following Oscar Torres' winning basket at the death.Kyiv had homecourt advantage, and
KIEV (EuroCup) - DKV Joventut spoiled the party in Ukraine by pulling away in the fourth quarter to beat EuroCup Final Four hosts BC Kyiv to set up a final clash with BC Khimki on Sunday.
DKV prevailed 88-78 after Khimki had won the opening semi-final, 63-61, over Dynamo St Petersburg following Oscar Torres' winning basket at the death.
Kyiv had homecourt advantage, and the motivation to make up for last season's disappointment in Istanbul when they went oh so close before falling to Dynamo in the FIBA Europe League title game.
Renato Pasquali's team fought back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter on Friday to level the scores and then early in the fourth, they took a 59-57 lead on an Afik Nissim three-pointer to send the home fans into a frenzy.
But Rudy Fernandez, DKV's Spanish international, is one of the biggest stars in Europe and he showed it time and again in the fourth quarter.
He replied immediately with a three-pointer to put his side back in front.
After Goran Nikolic made one of two from the line to tie the game at 60-60, DKV took over for good by going on a 9-0 run.
Scotland's Robert Archibald was fouled and made a pair from the stripe before Lubos Barton dunked and, after drawing a foul on the play, sank the free throw for a 65-60 advantage.
Fernandez and veteran Elmer Bennett added lay-ups, and DKV were in total command.
Kyiv were unable get the deficit under eight points for the remainder of the contest.
Fernandez finished with a game-high 22 points while Bennett had 17, Alex Mumbru 14 and eight rebounds and Andy Betts 12 with five boards.
Barton was also solid with 10 points and five boards.
Guilherme Giovannoni, who will play for Brazil at the FIBA World Championship, had 18 points in defeat while Nissim poured in 19 for Kyiv.
Torres saves the day for Khimki
Earlier, Venezuela's Torres gave the world a sneak preview of what is to come later this summer in Japan with a late put-back to earn BC Khimki a 63-61 win over Dynamo St Petersburg.
Melvin Booker's foul line jumper was off target in the final seconds but Torres, who will play at the FIBA World Championship, won the offensive rebound and went up strong for the winning points before time expired.
Khimki avenged last season's narrow defeat to Dynamo in the FIBA Europe League Final Four with this triumph.
After the winning points were scored and the buzzer sounded, Khimki's players stormed onto the court and piled on top of Torres.
Dynamo know this is a game they should have won as they were woeful in the free throw shooting department.
After making better than 70% from the line this year in the EuroCup, they were just five of 14 (35.7%) on Friday. Darryl Middleton really had a hard time, making just one of five.
Middleton split two free throws to give his side a 59-58 advantage in the final minute, but Torres struck with a three-pointer just 31 seconds from the end for a 61-59 lead.
After Jerry McCullough replied with a drive for the St Petersburg club to tie the contest at 61-61 with 19 seconds to play, Khimki called timeout.
When play resumed, Booker missed but Torres scored at the end.
"I didn't even have time to realise if the basket was good because Gianmarco Pozzecco and my other team-mates were jumping on top of me," said Torres.
"This is the biggest basket I have scored in Europe. It is an incredible feeling."
Torres and Booker each had 10 points while Russian international Alexander Petrenko poured in 17 and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Khimki.
Argentinian international Ruben Wolkowisky was held to just four points for Khimki but did have eight rebounds.
Torres, meanwhile, had spoken of the need to shut down Dynamo's Kelly McCarty, the MVP of last year's Final Four in Istanbul.
McCarty made just one of five shots from the arc and finished with a mere seven points.
Damir Miljkovic led the way with 17 for Dynamo.
"This is basketball," said a disappointed Dynamo coach Fotis Katsikaris, whose team was outrebounded 42-27.
Fifteen of the those rebounds for Khimki were on the offensive glass.
"I said yesterday the game could come down to one play and that is what happened," he added.
Khimki survived turning the ball over 23 times to just 10 for Dynamo.
By PA Sport, Exclusively for FIBA
DKV prevailed 88-78 after Khimki had won the opening semi-final, 63-61, over Dynamo St Petersburg following Oscar Torres' winning basket at the death.
Kyiv had homecourt advantage, and the motivation to make up for last season's disappointment in Istanbul when they went oh so close before falling to Dynamo in the FIBA Europe League title game.
Renato Pasquali's team fought back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter on Friday to level the scores and then early in the fourth, they took a 59-57 lead on an Afik Nissim three-pointer to send the home fans into a frenzy.
But Rudy Fernandez, DKV's Spanish international, is one of the biggest stars in Europe and he showed it time and again in the fourth quarter.
He replied immediately with a three-pointer to put his side back in front.
After Goran Nikolic made one of two from the line to tie the game at 60-60, DKV took over for good by going on a 9-0 run.
Scotland's Robert Archibald was fouled and made a pair from the stripe before Lubos Barton dunked and, after drawing a foul on the play, sank the free throw for a 65-60 advantage.
Fernandez and veteran Elmer Bennett added lay-ups, and DKV were in total command.
Kyiv were unable get the deficit under eight points for the remainder of the contest.
Fernandez finished with a game-high 22 points while Bennett had 17, Alex Mumbru 14 and eight rebounds and Andy Betts 12 with five boards.
Barton was also solid with 10 points and five boards.
Guilherme Giovannoni, who will play for Brazil at the FIBA World Championship, had 18 points in defeat while Nissim poured in 19 for Kyiv.
Torres saves the day for Khimki
Earlier, Venezuela's Torres gave the world a sneak preview of what is to come later this summer in Japan with a late put-back to earn BC Khimki a 63-61 win over Dynamo St Petersburg.
Melvin Booker's foul line jumper was off target in the final seconds but Torres, who will play at the FIBA World Championship, won the offensive rebound and went up strong for the winning points before time expired.
Khimki avenged last season's narrow defeat to Dynamo in the FIBA Europe League Final Four with this triumph.
After the winning points were scored and the buzzer sounded, Khimki's players stormed onto the court and piled on top of Torres.
Dynamo know this is a game they should have won as they were woeful in the free throw shooting department.
After making better than 70% from the line this year in the EuroCup, they were just five of 14 (35.7%) on Friday. Darryl Middleton really had a hard time, making just one of five.
Middleton split two free throws to give his side a 59-58 advantage in the final minute, but Torres struck with a three-pointer just 31 seconds from the end for a 61-59 lead.
After Jerry McCullough replied with a drive for the St Petersburg club to tie the contest at 61-61 with 19 seconds to play, Khimki called timeout.
When play resumed, Booker missed but Torres scored at the end.
"I didn't even have time to realise if the basket was good because Gianmarco Pozzecco and my other team-mates were jumping on top of me," said Torres.
"This is the biggest basket I have scored in Europe. It is an incredible feeling."
Torres and Booker each had 10 points while Russian international Alexander Petrenko poured in 17 and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Khimki.
Argentinian international Ruben Wolkowisky was held to just four points for Khimki but did have eight rebounds.
Torres, meanwhile, had spoken of the need to shut down Dynamo's Kelly McCarty, the MVP of last year's Final Four in Istanbul.
McCarty made just one of five shots from the arc and finished with a mere seven points.
Damir Miljkovic led the way with 17 for Dynamo.
"This is basketball," said a disappointed Dynamo coach Fotis Katsikaris, whose team was outrebounded 42-27.
Fifteen of the those rebounds for Khimki were on the offensive glass.
"I said yesterday the game could come down to one play and that is what happened," he added.
Khimki survived turning the ball over 23 times to just 10 for Dynamo.
By PA Sport, Exclusively for FIBA