EUROBASKET 2011

Turning Point: With Russia up by seven inside the last 2:30 minutes of the game, Viktor Khryapa threw a great alley-hoop pass to Andrei Kirilenko and the former EuroBasket MVP pushed the gap to nine, and more importantly broke the spirit of Bulgaria right before the last stretch.

Game Hero: Kirilenko wrote his best game in the tournament today with 25 points in 53% from the floor next to four steals and five rebounds.

Stats Don't Lie: Russia won by 12 points, but the difference in the assists showed just how different their style was. The winners dished 25 assists against 12 of Bulgaria.

Russia are still perfect after their fourth game at EuroBasket 2011 following an 89-77 victory over Bulgaria in Group D at Klaipeda on Sunday evening.

This win saw Russia improve to 4-0 right before their biggest challenge of the round - the fight for the first spot versus Slovenia on Monday.

Bulgaria dropped to 1-3 but still stand a chance to qualify with a good performance tomorrow.

Andrei Kirilenko led Russia with 25 points and four steals, Timofey Mozgov added 15 points and five boards while Vitaliy Fridzon finished with 13.

Deyan Ivanov had his best game of the tournament for Bulgaria with 23 points on 64% shooting, Filip Videnov chipped in with 17 and EJ Rowland finished with 14.

Despite the double-digit lead at the end, Bulgaria put up a great fight for 35 minutes and was down by just five points inside the last 3:30 minutes, before Russia took off for good.

Russia took the lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back, yet were made to sweat and play hard to remain in front.

Mozgov and Kirilenko pushed the gap up to 40-29 in the 17th minute, but Rowland and Karolyn Ivanov cut the margin to just four at the break, 42-38.

The cat and mouse race continued as Russia took off once again but saw Bulgaria create another come back twice more.

Videnov connected twice from three-point range and added a point from the foul line to single-handedly cut a 12-point deficit to 80-75, but Kirilenko then converted a great alley oop pass by Viktor Khryapa to push the margin back to nine and that sealed the win.

The last day will see Russia and Slovenia go head-to-head for the top spot while Bulgaria will take on Georgia in the first game of the day to try and sneak into the ride to Vilnius.