BC Kyiv know a terrific fight awaits them in the EuroCup Final Four against DKV Joventut so they may want to thank city rivals Budivelnyk for being a good sparring partner this week.

On Saturday, Kyiv had no problem in the second leg of their National Cup clash with Pulsar, knocking them out 127-64.

Three days later, however, and Kyiv had a real fight in the capital derby against Budivelnyk. 

Despite missing a couple of players, Budivelnyk built a 10-2 advantage but Kyiv bounced back and moved in front at 13-12.

Budivelnyk landed quite a few blows until the end of the third quarter when Guilherme Giovannoni and LaMarr Greer sparked 20-2 for Kyiv which proved decisive.

Brazilian international Giovannoni and EuroCup All-Star Greer scored 21 points apiece.

Renato Pasquali's squad played without Andrii Lebediev and Goran Nikolic through injury but both are expected to recover in time for the next game.

Azovmash, who were knocked out of the EuroCup in Round II, played in Lviv where they met great resistance from Politechnika.

The Mariupol side managed to pull away at the end for a 98-83 triumph.

The victory may have come at a cost with Azovmash losing to injury Americans Khalid El-Amin and Rodney Buford, and Ukrainians Serhiy Lischuk and Andriy Botichev.