Khimki Moscow Region confirmed its great form and improved its playoffs chances by downing Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 78-61 at home on Friday. Khimki registered its fifth win in the last six games. Both teams now have 14-9 records in the 30-game regular season and share fourth place on victories. Alexey Shved led the winners with 20 points. Anthony Gill added 16 while Tyler Honeycutt grabbed 10 rebounds for Khimki. Chris Singleton led Panathinaikos with 14 points. Mike James and Marcus Denmon each added 11 for the guests. Gill and Shved shined early to give Khimki a 14-6 lead. K.C. Rivers and James stepped up for Panathinaikos but an outstanding Shved kept the hosts ahead, 24-18, after 10 minutes. Khimki raised its intensity level in the second quarter and found new go-to guys in Honeycutt and Charles Jenkins. A tip-in by Marko Todorovic boosted the hosts' margin to 46-31 at halftime. Nothing changed after the break, as Khimki went up 55-35 late in the third quarter, kept a 63-46 margin after 30 minutes on a midcourt shot by Gill, and cruised to an important home win.
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