DKV Joventut played solid in the second half to obtain a somewhat surprising 23-point win over Khimki on the road on Tuesday afternoon, 73-96 in the opening leg of the teams’ Last 16 series. Led by Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio – the latter posting 15 points and 5 assists in the second half – Joventut jumped ahead and never looked back thanks to 14 triples. Now both teams will meet again next Tuesday in Badalona, Spain, as Joventut will start with a 23-point advantage that gives it solid chances to be in the Final Eight in Turin, Italy, from April 10 to 13. For Khimki, Maciej Lampe led all scorers with 20 points, Dan Ewing added 15 and Mike Wilkinson tallied 13 on 5-of-5 two-point shooting. Khimki controlled the battle for rebounds, 43-33, but Joventut's accuracy and speed in offense allowed the hosts to escape Moscow with a valuable win.

Kestutis Kemzura, the BC Khimki head coach:
— I want to congratulate Joventut. We started not bad, but two mistakes and the course of match changed. We lost the concentration. Our team is young and has no experience in 2 matches' series. But we will go to Badalona to fight, and we understand that our task will be very difficult.