The top scorers: Booker (17), Veremeenko (13 + 12 rebounds), Fridzon (8), Wolkowiski (8)

On the visiting team’s roster for this game there were a total of 10 players. The foreigners out (for obvious reasons, in the domestic championships no more than five foreigners are allowed), Boris Gorenc, Ademola Okulaja, and Oscar Torres. The Russians, having injuries: Vladimir Diatchok, Timofei Mozgov (injured during the training practices for the game with the Italians, though at that time their absence was not as notorious), and Alexei Savkov. The visitor’s starting line up: Booker, Fridzon, McCarty, Veremeenko, Wolkowiski.

The first minutes went to UNICS: 7-0 and only after that Rubén Wolkowiski scored for Khimki. His team mates followed their captain’s lead, and added to the scoreboard. Melvin Booker with 8 points running took Khimki to the lead. Nonetheless, in the first 4.5 minutes Vladimir Veremeenko was slapped with three fouls. Booker continued to rack up points and reaching 11 for his personal score card, as many as the whole Kazan team had. Melvin pumped up the team and Vitaly Fridzon scored from the arc. With the exception of the first minutes, the game was level up until the first break, where just before that, Sergey Krasnikov and Maciej Lampe took the place of Wolkowiski and Veremeenko.

The visiting team started the second quarter with two play makers, Gianmarco Pozzecco (aka the Atomic Fly, aka Pozo) was scoping out the 3-point line, and when he couldn’t find the space to score on the first beat, he took on Melvin’s position. But later Booker took a breather on the bench and the following three minutes went without a score from either side. This dry spell was washed away with a score by Kazan’s Dusko Savanovic, and Lampe replied with an assist to Pozo. Khimki pumped up its volume and the UNICS coaches called a time out – the first in the game. After a few minutes of silence, having more to do with the opponent’s defense than with the unfortunate actions of the “culminating” players, they calmed down.

Finally in an attack, Kelly McCarty opened his personal score from the perimeter after a brilliant assist from Pozo, But Jarod Stevenson responded with two 3-pointers, back-to-back. Wolkowiski attempted it from the arc, but missed it, and Pozo was switched for Melvin Booker. Rubén Wolkowiski and Vladimir Veremeenko hit the court in the last minute of the second quarter, with Veremeenko taking the yellow-blues to the lead. UNICS rookie Dmitry Sokolov came out on court, as the Moscow Region team kept the lead, having rectified their game, after the halftime, in the paint, although their long distance plays were even better.

Ksystof Lavrinovic (his brother Darjus was out with an injury) opened his personal score, as Saulius Sombergas continued the assault the Lithuanian but Veremeenko didn’t allow the UNICS to start off with second half with too much might as they had after the tip off. Lampe hit the court to replace the captain on the front line, but the 4-point deficit was not easy to wipe away. Pozo then did thing his own Veni, vidi, vici style, attacking long distance.

Nonetheless, the gap grew to 9 points in favor of the home team. Khimki’s Coach Sergey Elevich asked for a time out to calm his boys down and put them on the right track to scoring. Veremeenko scored one soon after this, but the referees saw a foul and forced the visiting team to a replay. Khimki’s successful attempts were not as frequent as would be hoped for. Stombergas, from the 3-point line boosted the difference in scores, and the visiting team replied with a zone press. Even so, the 9 points racked up in this quarter remained.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, big guy Pavel Podkolzin appeared briefly to form the front line with Wolkowiski, while Booker directed the game. In eight minutes remaining they were looking at a 13-point gap. The visiting team took it on themselves “to save Russia” from the 3-point line, but they were not precise from the pressure being exerted not only by the gains needed, but by the lack of time to make them. The final quarter remained in the hands of the visitors, but this did not change the overall score. Khimki won in Kazan only once in the series for third place in the 2004/05 season and this time around not much changed.