Red Wings Soar Into Final

Krasnye Krylia became the first team to punch their ticket for the EuroChallenge 2010 Final after grinding out a hard fought 73-70 win against an injury-hit but gutsy Scavolini Spar Pesaro.

Marcus Douthit was a beast inside and finished with a double double and some spectacular scenes

The Redwings continue to fly high after once again relying on their defence and experience to progress (watch highlight video here).

Guard Ernest Bremer pulled the strings to great effect and recorded 18 points and 4 assists while Marcus Douthit claimed a sparkling double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

A flurry of triples from veteran Ralph Biggs (watch his postgame reaction here) also helped ease the load on key scorer Luis Flores who finished with 15 but it was arguably the all-round game of Evgeny Voronov that proved a real factor.

His aggressive approach at both ends of the floor from tip to buzzer was excellent and his cameo was important, particularly two memorable blocks which set the tone for the mean Samara defence.

It was always going to be a tough ask for Pesaro without the influential Tomassini, Cinciarini and the concerns over the critically ill Dusan Sakota.

To their credit, the Italian side showed the kind of heart you have just got to love and even had a chance to force overtime but Branko Cvetokovic was crowded out when pulling the trigger from the wing.

Krasnye Krylia always looked the slightly more assured team and enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.

Branko Cvetkovic did all he possibly could but came up short with his team

They moved into an eight point lead but they lost their concentration in the second quarter and by the interval, Pesaro had levelled the scores at 34-34 with both teams lighting it up from the perimeter.

With Michael Hicks-Taylor looking dangerous and the class of Cvetkovic always likely to be an issue, lying down was never an option for the Italian team.

Even when a triple by Flores handed them a ten point deficit at 69-59 in the final quarter, they dug deep and almost left the Russian side stunned.

The game had looked all but done and yet they came storming out of a time-out and embarked on a super 11-2 run to set up a nerve racking finale in the closing seconds.

Unfortunately for fans of Pesaro, Luis Flores once again showed he has ice running through his veins when placed on the line.

He buried both free-throws to seal the game and finally see off a plucky effort by the depleted Scavolini Spar Pesaro.

Quotes Krasnye Krylia vs. Scavolini Spar Pesaro

Krasnye Krylia Head Coach Mikhail Mikhailov:
Thanks to Scavolini Spar Pesaro. Thanks for a very good game. Both teams deserved a spot in the final. But we already met in the semi final. The situation with Dusan Sakota is very unfortuneatly, we wish him all the best. The game was equally played over four quarters. On defense, my players played very well tonight and on a high level over 40 minutes. We made a few mistakes but we will work on that in the finals. We really worked as a team. We wish Scavolini Spar Pesaro all the best in the game for 3rd place.

Krasnye Krylia Player Ralph Biggs:
Like Coach Dalmonte said, we did a lot of collapsing on Williams and Hicks. It worked out very well for us. Their three pointers brought them back in the game. I think we let down the intensity and allowed them to comeback. We simply can't afford that. But still we played enough team defense to get the win.

Scavolini Spar Pesaro Head Coach Luca Dalmonte:
Congratulations to Samara. They played a lot of collapsing in defense. They collapsed in the paint on Williams. And on the wing they collapsed on Hicks. We knew that, but we missed some open set shots. The game was tied all game but five minutes before the end the shots of Samara made the difference. Mentally we lost the game in the last two minutes. We need more patience in offense. A big difference have been the 1 on 1 situation. We allowed them to score to easy on that.

Pesaro Player Branko Cvetkovic:
Congratulations to Krasnye Krylia for advancing into the final. The game was tied all game long. Just a couple of small things made the difference. We received a couple of three point shots in the end. To be honest, it was a very tough time last week. That maybe caused a lack of focus. But we don't want to make excuses. Congratulations again to Samara.