BC Kyiv never have easy games in Mariupol and their clash at the weekend proved no exception with the club holding off their hosts but losing Andriy Lebediev to injury.

In a game before Kyiv's important EuroCup contest at home to CEZ Nymburk, Renato Pasquali's Kyiv earned a 75-70 win over SC Mariupol.

Kyiv, who played without Ratko Varda and Guilherme Giovannoni, made a fine start and had a 12-point lead at half-time but the hosts battled and made things interesting in the fourth quarter only to come up just short.

Kyiv forward Michael Harris scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the win, however, the victors suffered a big loss with Ukrainian national team player Lebediev hurting his leg. Doctors expect him to be out of action for between one and two months.

Lebediev has been averaging 4.5 points in 18.5 minutes per game in the EuroCup.

Harris and Co will be at home in the EuroCup this week. They have three wins and two defeats in Round II and a triumph will put them into the quarter-final round.

Another side looking to reach the quarter-final of the EuroCup, Azovmash Mariupol, claimed their 15th success in Ukrainian championship, beating Kharkiv Politechnic 108-86.

Young Igor Loktionov had 14 points for the winners.

Khimik Yuzhny, who recently advanced to EuroCup Challenge semi-finals, unexpectedly hammered strong Dnipro 106-64 to strengthen their grip on third place in the Superliga.

Aleksandr Subara was spectacular in his 16 minutes on court, scoring 21 points.