Keravnos Cyprus College fall in Samara at final hurdle

NIKITA SHABALKIN netted 24 points to help CSK-VVS Samara destroy Keravnos Cyprus College 101-81 in the return leg of the FIBA EuroCup Challenge finals and eventually claim the trophy on Thursday night in Samara.

The Cypriot side started the game well leading throughout the first half, inspired by Victor King, who scored 13 out of his total 22 points in this period.

The Cypriot side held a two-point advantage after the first leg they looked to be on route to win the competition. However, once Gennady Zelenskiy made a three-pointer to put his team two points ahead at 54-52 with 6:31 remaining in the third quarter, the hosts went on to increase their lead to seven points at the end of the period at 71-64. The final quarter was just a formality as Keravnos Cyprus College visibly tired with the Russian side scoring 30 points while holding the visitors to only 17, the new champion was practically decided.

Georgios Diamantopoulos scored 22 points, while Kelvin Gibbs added 21 for the hosts. Evgeny Voronov and Gennady Zelenskiy had 15 and 11 points respectively. Omar Cook was held on three points but he managed to dish out a game-high 10 assists.

Victor King led Keravnos Cyprus College with 22 points, while Predrag Kosanovic came off the bench to chip in with 16. Panayiotis Trisokkas and Patrick Lee had 15 and 13 points respectively.

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