Red hot Kyiv Basket looks for their tenth win in 11 games – and the Group J lead – in Europe Cup action tonight at Kyiv’s Veneto Sports Palace.
Kyiv Basket looks to continue its wild Europe Cup ride tonight as they fight for first place in Group J against Italy’s Reggiana at Kyiv’s Veneto Sports Palace (11B Heroiv Sevastopolya St.) at 19:00.
Both teams started Round 2 on the right foot with opening game victories. 2014 EuroChallenge champions Reggiana got past Germany’s Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 84-80, while the black-and-yellows cruised by Belgium’s Telenet Giants Antwerp 90-82 thanks to some impressive first half shooting from beyond the arc.
James Thompson and Michael Caffey lead the way for Kyiv, averaging 12.4 and 10.7 points per game, respectively.
They’ll need to keep in check Reggiana forward Osvaldas Olisevicius, who picked apart the Hakro Merlins in his last game out.
Kyiv Basket starts its group with three straight home games, an anomaly not lost on head coach Ainars Bagatskis.
“I have never encountered anything like this in my career,“
he stated before the group stage began. “However, I think this option is not bad. During the week-long break in the national team match, the team managed to rest and recharge its batteries. Now everyone is relatively alive and well and ready for battle.”
Kyiv’s newest recruit, American forward Jordan Swing, saw his first action against Antwerp and will be in the lineup tonight. He’s still settling into his new community, but it helps having another player from Alabama on the team – Jeffrey Garrett – who grew up just 45 minutes away from Swing.
“I want to help Kyiv Basket have a great season”, he said in an interview. “To win as many games as possible, to go as far in the tournaments as possible, and to win medals and cups and have many wonderful memories of Ukraine.”
Kyiv returns to Europe Cup action in January when it hosts the Hakro Merlins on Jan. 12.
The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals, which will begin after the Round 2 group stage is completed in the new year.The FIBA Europe Cup is Europe’s third-tier basketball competition, after the EuroLeague and FIBA Champions League.
Kyiv Basket currently sits in second place in the Ukrainian SuperLeague with an 13-5 record, behind Prometey (18-0).
