In the first half, the yellow-n-blues took control of the game and before half time won a comfortable lead of more than double over their opponent: 36-16. For the most part, this was thanks to the great game played by Yuri Karpenko (20 points).

Midway through the third quarter the visiting team cut their disadvantage a bit down, however, in the last quarter things reverted back to a large gap. Karpenko was assisted in an active offense by Semichev (15 points), Kots (11), and Kalinin (9). The maximum lead gained by Khimki was of 33 points.

After the game, some thoughts from the opponent’s Coach Anders CERYAKS:

— Our team is from a small team in the City of Latvia, with a population of 27,000, of which there are 200-300 boys old enough to participate in these tournaments. This is why we closed a deal with the Academy of Riga, getting our staff from them, and playing under their flag. This is our first match in Khimki and even though we were able to see the city from the bus windows, we liked what we saw of this lovely city. It is beautiful and surely very green in the summer. And we had already visited the Red Square. As for the game, we were happy to play. Our prospects for the tournament are not the worst, though not the most promising. We will try to clinch the highest position possible, but a lot depends on our rival’s performance.

Also sharing his thoughts after the game, Coach Alexander VASILKOV:

— Despite the great results, I am not happy with the team’s performance. The boys can show a more substantial game that what we saw today. I will try to prepare them for the game against the upcoming rival taking into account all the errors committed today. We didn’t have to pay for them with this first game, but the upcoming one is more serious. The BC Spars have a coach from the Latvian National Team of Under-1989 players. I have played against him and am familiar with his expert methods. I hope our leaders, headed by the team captain Yuri Karpenko, will play better. It is nice to see how Nikita Bychkov improves from game to game. We also have a good prospect in Serdar Annaev, born in the year 1994.

It’s interesting how the Spars, which played their first game in the tournament with a resulting: 59-46, lost to Trinta. The third game, BC Metall Profil vs. BC Avangard Basket ended with a score of: 70-50.