The visitors outscored Valencia 32-48 in the middle two quarters. Rice led a 2-10 second-quarter run that helped Khimki to a 35-41 halftime advantage and back-to-back threes by Petteri Koponen and Rice at the end of the third quarter made it 52-65. However Valencia rallied late behind Luke Harangody and Vladimir Lucic, closed the gap and restored Valencia’s chances to win the series with a narrow victory next week in Russia. Paul Davis and Koponen each scored 12 and Egor Vyaltsev tallied 7 points and 7 assists for Khimki, which won its eighth straight Eurocup game. Sam Van Rossom scored 15 points and Harangody 12 for Valencia, which was without point guard Nemanja Nedovic due to injury. Valencia dropped to 2-3 at home in the Eurocup this season.

Khimki won the opening tip and went inside to Davis, who missed twice. Bojan Dublevic opened the scoring for the hosts before Rafa Martinez topped in his own miss Sergey Monia scored twice and rejected Dubljevic. Then Rice gave the visitors their first lead, 4-6. Back-to-back threes by Sam Van Rossom and Pablo Aguilar gave Valencia a 12-8 edge after six minutes, however Koponen responded with 2 threes of his own. The long ball remained the weapon of choice for both teams; triples from Sam Van Rossom and Pau Ribas put Valencia back ahead and Romain Sato made it 20-17 after 10 minutes. Rice heated up with 7 straight points early in the second quarter to make it 21-26. After Guillem Vives drew the hosts within 25-26, Rice scored twice and Davis added a basket in the paint. Rice added 2 more free throws before James Augustine capped a 2-10 Khimki run that made it 27-36. Dublevic and Sato drained threes as Valencia rallied to within 1, but Koponen’s third three and a David slam in the closing seconds of the half left Khimki up 35-41 at the break.

Sato scored the first basket of the second half and a Ribas three made it 40-45. However baskets by Davis and Rice soon gave Khimki its first double-digit advantage. Ribas and Aguilar hit threes that pushed Valencia back within 47-51. Rice scored from the line and Vyaltsev added a three and then 2 free throws. Tyler Honecutt split free throws to boost Khimki’s advantage to 12. Harangody and Lucic scored 5 quick points for the hosts, but back-to-back threes by Koponen and Rice made it 52-65 through three quarters. Davis’s tip-in kept Khimki with a comfortable 57-69 cushion with six minutes remaining. Lucic hit a three and Harangody a three-point play to halve the gap. After Rice and Harangody swapped threes, Davis made it an 8-point difference. However a Van Rossom three and free throws made it 73-74 inside the final minute. Rice scored and Lucic netted free throws to bring the game to a close at 75-76.