Eurocup: Khimki Moscow Region, Unics Kazan, and Herbalife Gran Canaria in Final Four

After Banvit Bandirma became the first club to punch its ticket to the Eurocup Final Four, a further three clubs joined the Turkish outfit on Wednesday to lock the semis. The honour of a berth in the semi-finals goes to Unics Kazan, Khimki Moscow Region, and Herbalife Gran Canaria, the three clubs winning in the second leg of their quarter-final ties.

Unics Kazan put in a huge display to shock Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar on the road, while Gran Canaria and Khimki consolidated their winning positions from last week. The Eurocup Final Four is now locked and there will certainly be a new winner of the competition this season after the current champions slipped out. Indeed, the last two Eurocup champions found themselves eliminated from the competition during the evening.

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Unics Kazan, 58-79 (145-157)
2013 Eurocup champions Lokomotiv went into game 2 in Krasnodar with home court advantage and a decent 78-87 lead from leg one. There is also the small fact that the club was undefeated in the competition this season, all pointers that Lokomotiv would book its place in the Final Four. However, Russian rivals Unics Kazan pulled off arguably the shock of the tournament with a demolition job on the road. Whether Lokomotiv collapsed or Unics were just that good is up for debate, but either way the Kazan club is heading to the semis.

Unics is now one step closer to returning to the finals, where the club finished as a runner-up last season. The Russian club was last a Eurocup champion in 2011. Lokomotiv started the game well and led 17-14 at the first split, but Unics Kazan won the second frame 16-20 and never looked back as the visitors cruised to an aggregate win.

James White was sensational for the winners as he posted 29 points and added 8 rebounds. White was followed by D’Or Fischer with 17 points and 8 boards, while Kostas Kaimakoglou hit 11 points.

Malcolm Delaney kept Lokomotiv ticking with 16 points, followed by Andrey Zubkov with 12 points.

Khimki Moscow Region vs. Valencia Basket, 76-61 (152-136)
Valencia Baskets’ Eurocup title defence ended on Wednesday as Russian club and 2012 champions Khimki Moscow Region secured a home win to sweep their two game series. There will be no record fourth championship for the Spanish club as Valencia could not fight back from a losing deficit in Game 1 (75-76). The Russian club simply had too much on its own hardwood and breezed to the Final Four.

The hosts edged the first quarter 21-20 and then matched its output in the second frame while holding Valencia to 16 points. Through the long break Khimki had opened a 118-111 aggregate lead. Valencia struggled to get into the game and conceded the third stanza, while a rally remained elusive in the fourth quarter too. A 14-14 tie in the final act allowed Khimki to ease down the straight to victory.

Tyrese Rice topped the winning effort with 18 points, while he doubled up with 10 assists. Sergey Monia logged 16 points, Petteri Kopenen scored 14 points, and Egor Vyaltsev hit 13 points.

Bojan Dubljevic scored 15 points for the losing champs and Nemanja Nedovic backed up with 13 points.

Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir vs. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas, 74-75 (140-151)
The tightest game of the night saw Gran Canaria edge Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir on the road to move into the Final Four. As it was, the Spanish club merely consolidated its 76-66 success in leg one last week, but it was hard fought throughout. After a very good season on the continent, Gran Canaria progressed into the Eurocup Last Four for the first time in its history.

The visitors would always be formidable for Izmir, but the Turkish home club kept the fight alive throughout. However, Gran Canaria weathered a late Karsiyaka storm to claim the win, moving to 19-1 in the competition this season.

Brad Newley paced the winning team with 15 points, and he was aided by Levon Kendall with 12 points and Albert Oliver and Kyle Kuric with 10 points apiece.

Bobby Dixon drove the hosts and almost took them to victory with his game high 24 point contribution. Juan Palacios stood out too with 15 points, while D.J Strawberry proved dangerous at both ends of the floor with 11 points and 9 rebounds. The problem for the hosts was that the rest of the roster did not hit enough buckets.