Khimki got to play the first and true visting team games in the 2007 championship in Samara. The first match, against CSK VVS, was not much of a hurdle for the visiting team, with only one of the dozen players unable to add his grain of sand towards victory: 95-75 (25-21, 24-15, 26-16, 20-23). The Moscow Region basketball club will play its next game in the Russian Championship game on Wednesday 24 January same place same time, but against Standart.
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Top scorers: Fridzon (21), Wolkowiski (18), Diatchok (12), Gorenc (10), Lampe (9), Veremeenko (9).
Acting Coach Bergman, just as he had promised, included Goliakhov and Podkolzin on the roster, though they did not get much court time. Pozzecco, McCarty, and Okulaja were the foreigners on the team, while CSK VVS was missing the North American Gibbs. Nonetheless, and despite these changes in the 12, the starting line up for the yellow-blues remained the usual: Booker, Fridzon, Torres, Veremeenko, Wolkowiski, who as captain of the Moscow Region club was the first to light up the scoreboard.
The home team’s new acquisition, Greek forward, Diamantopolous, lead them, scoring 6 points at the outset and two 3-pointers in a row. Rubén Wolkowiski responded by taking back the lead from the perimeter as well. The captain’s leadership was followed close behind by Vitaly Fridzon: 12-6, which forced Tikhonenko to stop the clock for a minute out. After the visiting team made three fouls, Veremeenko replaced the playmaker Gorenc, while Savkov took over for Fridzon, scoring a 3-pointer.
The second quarter started off with Lampe under the scoreboard, but this didn’t impeded the home team from setting up a mini cut:: 5-0, which was cut down in turn by successful launches by Torres and Lampe. The visiting team, however, didn’t allow the home team the chance to attack from a distance without impediments – of 13 offenses only 3 from the Greek made it through in the first half. The opponent was making more attempts, but with less luck. For a time, the game was head to head, but the Moscow Region club came out and took it to: 8-2 with two brilliant offensive plays by Gorenc and Lampe. In the last minute, before halftime, the advantage doubled, and capping off the first half Booker, stealing from Osipvo, scored a 3-pointer.
In the third quarter, Fridzon once again scored from the arc, and throughout the game he played to clinch the most effective player title for Khimki, and didn’t miss one field goal. Just as the game clock indicated midway through the third quarter, Wolkowiski stood out again, (out of two), and for an eighth time for the team (out of 12), taking the team to a 20-point lead. With an understanding that the course of the game had been already decided, Bergman continued experimenting with the roster, mixing and matching players. In minute 28, for the first time in the season, Goliakhov appeared on court for the main team, and though he was not on court very long, towards the end he scored for his personal record.
The final quater started off with Samara in the lead by: 8-0. The gap was cut down again thanks to the long distance shots by Diatchok, Gorenc, and Fridzon. The 23 players from both teams had appeared on court, with the only one that hadn’t scored being Sergey Krasnikov.