Khimki close to Eurocup title after routing Gran Canaria on the road

Khimki Moscow Region is just one step away from its second Eurocup title after drubbing Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 66-91 in Game 1 of the Eurocup Finals on Friday at Gran Canaria Arena. Khimki hosts Game 2 of the two-game total-points series next week knowing that a win – or a loss by up to 24 points – will make it the 2015 Eurocup champion and hand it a berth in the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. Egor Vyaltsev scored a season-high 18 points and Petteri Koponen also netted 18 points, while Paul Davis tallied 17 points and Eurocup MVP Tyrese Rice totaled 13 points and 5 assists for Khimki, which shot at a blistering pace (72.2% on two-point shots, on 47.8% threes) and outrebounded the hosts 25-34. Kyle Kuric scored 23 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting and Eulis Baez added 18 points and 7 rebounds for Gran Canaria in defeat. Davis scored 10 first quarter points to put Khimki ahead 19-21 after 10 minutes. Then Koponen led an 0-8 run which made it a double-digit game. A three-point play by Oriol Pauli got Gran Canaria within 33-40 at halftime. The third quarter saw Baez almost singlehandedly bring the hosts back into the series at 47-49. However Vyaltsev made a pair of threes and Koponen scored 7 points in a 1-16 charge to open the fourth quarter as Khimki ran away with the game – and possibly, the series.