Krasnodar’s Lokomotiv-Kuban defeated Saratov’s Avtodor at home, 96–74 (30–21, 18–12, 21–18, 27–23).
Main Story
The visitors got off to a strong start, jumping out to a five-point lead. However, they were unable to hold onto the lead for long—Loko went on an 11–0 run. The Krasnodar team solidified their lead with high three-point shooting (5 of 6) during the opening stretch. In the second quarter, the pace of the game and the scoring output of both teams slowed, but that didn’t prevent the home team from extending their lead to 15 points by halftime.
The Clutch Moment
From the start of the second half, the Saratov team put up a fight, but 8 turnovers in the third quarter prevented them from closing the gap. In the final 10 minutes, Rostislav Vergun’s team briefly seized the initiative, but the “Railroaders’” leaders managed to halt the visitors’ run, securing the victory.
X-Factor
Krasnodar won the battle under the basket. Loko grabbed 50 rebounds, 19 of which were offensive. Avtodor managed only 36 rebounds (9 offensive).
Interesting Fact
Head-to-head record: 25-4 in favor of Loko. Krasnodar defeated Avtodor for the sixteenth consecutive time.
Loko guard Marcos Knight played his first game of the VTB League season.
Press Conference
Tomislav Tomović, Head Coach of Lokomotiv-Kuban:
– The way we started the match makes me a little less satisfied with the final result. We could have sealed the win much earlier if we’d played better defensively in certain situations and made more level-headed decisions on offense. We need to execute these things more reliably in our upcoming matches. Tomorrow we’ll rest, and then we’ll have two days to prepare as best we can for the match against Zenit—both physically and mentally. I’d like to take this opportunity to invite as many fans as possible to this match. Our fans are our strength, and their support is incredibly important to us in a game against an opponent like this. Come out and give us a boost, and we’ll do our best to repay you with a great performance.
Avtodor Head Coach Rostislav Vergun:
– In any victory, not everything goes perfectly, and in any defeat, not everything is so bad. There’s no doubt that our opponent was stronger today and deserved to win. There were things we should have done better. For example, the eight turnovers in the third quarter that cost us any chance of staying in the game. Plus, we let our opponent grab 19 rebounds on our end of the court. But there are different ways to lose. I’m very impressed by the character of the guys—those who finished the game and played in the fourth quarter. Their tenacity, their will to win. We didn’t give up until the very end. We’ll analyze this, prepare for the next game, and get better as a team. And I think we can make something happen.
Top Performers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Patrick Miller (21), Marcos Knight (20), Andrey Lopatin (13 + 9 rebounds), Anton Kvitkovskikh (11), Ruslan Abdulbasirov (10 + 9 rebounds)
Avtodor: Wendell Green (20), Vitalius Pranauskas (13), Timofey Shikalov (10)
Up Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: October 18, against Zenit.
Avtodor: October 18, against MBA.
Condensed game:
Highlights:
