Best scorers: Planinic (14 + 6 assists + 4 rebounds), Davis (14), Fridzon (11 + 7 assists), Monya (11 + 4 blocks)

Andrea Trinchieri, Mapooro Cantu head coach:

– My comment is simple. I congratulate BC Khimki on this victory; they played excellent and deserved this win. Our opponent demonstrated good two — and three-point shooting percentages. We started well, but were down in the second quarter. The second quarter was the key moment in the game. We didn’t manage to respond and the difference is as you can see. If you allow a big margin for such team as BC Khimki, it will be very tough to make a comeback. Today we missed our key players Aradori, Smith and Scekic because of injures.

Manuchar Markoishvili, Mapooro Cantu guard:

– It was a tough game for us. BC Khimki played a good game and was great in defense and in offense. They were just better that Mapooro Cantu. We missed three injured players and our team didn’t get the needed energy for the second and third quarters. Our opponent moved the ball very well and made shots. So it was a deserved win for BC Khimki. We have to play two more games in the Euroleague and will try to succeed. I was very glad to see Kresimir Loncar, we played together in Benetton Basket many years ago. I don’t like to speak about myself, I would like to make compliment for Kreso. He has taken a huge step forward and now is one of the best centers in Europe.

Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:

– I would like to thank my players for this game. Today we used a great rotation and all the guys performed well. Of course, everybody made some small mistakes, but in general I’m happy with the way we played. We won a very important game and increased our three-point shooting, but for sure could play better in the paint. Today Vyaltsev was really good and I’m happy with his progress.

Matt Nielsen:

– Obviously it’s a good win for us. Our goal was to reach the Top 16 and probably this does it. Now it’s about of getting better position. Mapooro Cantu missed couple of important players and at this level of basketball it’s difficult to compete without leaders. In Italy they had full team and played a really great game. The key for victory was our defense. In the first quarter they scored 24 points, but then relaxed. We took the lead and didn’t allow Cantu to recover.

Paul Davis:

– It was a must win for us. Every victory makes you happy, but this one like a special one; we practically reached the Top 16 and did it on our home court. There has been a little pressure during last two weeks: we had to win, but were defeated in Madrid. We are happy with the result, everyone did their best. Mapooro Cantu is a tough team on the road, but today we played with energy, everybody did a great job. Our opponent has a couple of players hurt, but we couldn’t lose this game, it was in our mind and we are happy with the outcome. After the second quarter, we led by 13 points and it was the turning point.