CSKA defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban at home, 87–84 (27–23, 27–17, 16–19, 17–25).
Main Story
From the very first minutes, a close and hard-fought game unfolded on the court. Between them, the teams committed 18 fouls in the opening 10 minutes. This served as a perfect illustration of the level of tension that was reigning on the court. But in the second quarter, the momentum gradually shifted to CSKA. A standout performance by Melo Trimble (15 points) and an excellent three-point shooting percentage (70%—7 out of 10) allowed CSKA to head into halftime with a 14-point lead—54–40.
In the second half, the Muscovites managed to maintain a double-digit lead for a long time. But in the final quarter, the Kuban team staged a comeback. A string of three-pointers and a quick run by Patrick Miller laid the foundation for Lokomotiv’s surge. With two and a half minutes remaining, the visitors tied the game at 80–80.
The Clutch Moment
The outcome of the game wasn’t decided until the very end. And that’s when Trimble became the hero. Only this time, he didn’t play his usual role as a sharpshooter. His steal proved to be the key play. During Kuban’s decisive possession, Trimble stole the ball from Trevelin Queen and then sealed the final score—87–84—from the free-throw line.
X-Factor
Three-pointers proved to be the key factor in this game. CSKA made 11 of 26 shots from beyond the arc—42.3%. The visitors made only 8 of 29 attempts from the perimeter—27.6%.
Interesting Fact
Loko suffered its first loss of the current season. After today’s game, CSKA remains the only team that has yet to lose.
Press Conference
CSKA Head Coach Andreas Pistiolis:
– First of all, let me thank the fans who came to the arena. It’s always very important for us to feel their presence and support. Second, I want to say that, in my opinion, this turned out to be a very good game for the entire VTB United League. It was a very high-level match, just like all our games against Lokomotiv-Kuban. Today, we took a step in the right direction as a team. We realized what we were doing wrong in previous matches, especially in the game against Lokomotiv (in the Super Cup). So we’re moving in the right direction, but we still have a very long way to go.
Lokomotiv-Kuban Head Coach Tomislav Tomović:
– First of all, congratulations to CSKA on the victory. The team absolutely deserved to win because they played hard for the full 40 minutes. Yes, we managed to get back into the game, but at the same time, when you’re playing in such important matches, you can’t afford to have any lapses. And in that sense, CSKA played better. This will be a good lesson for us as we continue the season. We need to not only stay focused for the full 40 minutes, but also come out strong right away on both defense and offense.
Top Performers
CSKA: Melo Trimble (24 points, 6 assists), Livio Jean-Charles (14 points, 6 rebounds)
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Trevelin Queen (21 points, 5 rebounds), Patrick Miller (20 points, 5 assists), Anton Kvitkovskikh (11), Ivan Samoylenko (10)
Up Next :
CSKA: October 14, away against Dynamo
Lokomotiv-Kuban: October 14, at home against Avtodor.
Condensed Game:
