Zagreb Sweep Series With Khimik

KK Zagreb did the double over Khimik Yuzhny with a 70-62 triumph in Ukraine on Wednesday.

The result has left both sides with 2-3 records in Group F. Dexia Mons-Hainaut and Galatasaray Café Crown are above them at 3-2.

Four Zagreb players hit double digits in scoring, led by Krunoslav Simon's 15.

The Croatian outfit jumped out to a 17-13 lead by the end of the first quarter and extended that to 38-28 by half-time.

Khimik managed to claw their way back to just eight points down with 5:46 to go in the third, but Zagreb went on a 10-3 run to close the frame and entered the final 10 minutes on top 55-40.

Khimik began the fourth quarter with renewed vigor and when Jarrius Jackson drilled a three-ball with 5:38 remaining in the game, the home side trailed only 56-54.

Dzenan Rahimic made a jump shot and Simon followed with a lay-up as Zagreb went back in front by six and stayed in control.

Zagreb did a lot of their damage at the free throw line, making 20 of their 23 attempts.

Wykeen Kelly had a game-high 17 points in defeat for Khimik.

Quotes BC Khimik vs. KK Zagreb

Denis Bajramovic, Head Coach (КК Zagreb):

"For both of the teams this game was so important, as we have the same result in the group - 2/3.

Two of our players are injured, this even made this game more difficult for us.

Our purpose was to win, and we have made everything for that."

Krunoslav Simon, Player (КК Zagreb):

"At first, of course, the game was difficult, but the defense of BC Khimik was not so good today.

They allowed us to throw open shots.

I am so happy that we could win this very important for us game."

Marton Bader, Player (BC Khimik):

"The international competitions are very important for us.

What can I say! We played really bad today in offense and defense.

At the first and at the beginning of the second quarter our defense was terrible.

In the third quarter, despite that we were loosing 17 points, we took ourselves in the hands and have reduced to 5 points, but, probably, the luck today was not on your side."

Oliver Popovic, Head Coach (BC Khimik):

"We have played very bad today in offense. And also we played really bad in defense too.

I consider, that first the team start playing bad in defense at the beginning and then when they were loosing 15 points they began to play good.

That means that the players can do it.

Today we made a lot of mistakes. We have a very low percent of shots under the basket. And in defense during the entire game we managed to play only 7-8 minutes at a good level.

KK Zagreb is a team which plays very good in their home league. I want to say that this team is very skilled.

We've played very badly today and allowed to defeat us too easily."