The most effective players: Wolkowiski (23), Fridzon (11), Torres (10), Diatchok (10).

The visiting team took to the court of the Olimpietz Sports Complex with their starting line-up: Booker, Fridzon, Krasnikov, Okulaja, Wolkowiski.

The first eight points for Spartak were scored by the club’s new players, four points each made by Stanescu and Tsypatchev. BC Khimki’s score for this 2006/07 season was opened up by Sergey Krasnikov. The debut match was clinched by the home team, and with three minutes into the game, they were already in the lead: 8-4, although, having lost 6 consecutive points, they lost some luster. After an error by Keirou, Rubén Wolkowiski cut to Ademola Okulaja, and he took Khimki for the first time to the lead.

Primorie’s players could not do much against Khimki’s captain, and Ruben not only scored 9 points coming up on the break, erring on only one shot from the perimeter, he had made a successful cut for Khimki: 7-0. Despite this series of successful plays, only the fifth 3-pointer actually made it in. Podkolzin, Torres, and Pozzecco were then unleashed, and Spartak was able to level the score towards the end of the first quarter. During the first interval, Khimki was ahead after the sure shots from the line by Vitaly Fridzon. The second quarter began with Diatchok and Podkolzin at the front line.

Khimki’s coaches let the captain loose and Rubén Wolkowiski hit the court, with the score in their favor: 35-26 as they scored successful 3-pointers and attempts by Torres and Savkov. The third consecutive 3-pointer by Alexei Savkov made a notable difference: 43-33. All the same, it was not enough for the Moscow Region players, though as they reached the end of the first half, Melvin Booker launched it from the perimeter.

Naturally, at the second half, with Alexei up front, and the Khimki advantage at a comfortable lead, the players were not about to sit on their laurels: they had watched and studied videos of Spartak and Dynamo Moscow. Khimki’s coaches tried to keep a rhythm high, with frequent changes, and the broad bench with which they could rely on allowed them this freedom. In the first half, of the 12, only Karaulov remained on the bench. Khimki’s successful plays for possession of the ball got them ahead on the score board, and they were shining with the rebounds: at minute 25 Krasnikov and Booker had as many as Wolkowiski.

In the third quarter, and with a little help from the referee, the game was evened out, but coming up on the final minute, Khimki’s lead once again was defined and after a triple from Fridzon, his advantage reached 20 points. Nonetheless, in the last minute the home team racked up 5 points.

At the beginning of the last quarter, Vitaly Fridzon had 4 personal fouls against him, but fortunately there was a replacement (Savkov was the first to fly with 5 personal fouls). The closing quarter, as has occurred in the first Spartak match, was very successful for them. At 4.32 minutes from the final siren call, the score was: 78-73, and a time out was called by … Sergey Babkov.

After this pause, Virgil Stanescu and Willie Deane shrunk the home team’s disadvantage to a minimum: 77-78 with two minutes left for game’s end. Torres and Booker failed their respective two attempts and the home team, after an overhead shot by Stanescu, at 19 seconds to the siren’s blow, they took the lead. And despite an attempt from the arc by Ruben, the visiting team was unable to win this time around.