Lokomotiv-Kuban beat UNICS on the road – 98:77 (17:19, 29:18, 29:14, 23:26).
Top scorers
UNICS: Pavel Sergeev (25), Aleksandr Razumov (18), Evgeny Kolesnikov (14 + 5 rebounds).
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Drew Gordon (19 + 8 rebounds), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (17 + 7 rebounds + 5 assists), Will Cummings (14), Nigel Williams-Goss (13 + 6 rebounds + 10 assists).
Story
UNICS (18-5) and Lokomotiv-Kuban (17-6) in the last regular season game were fighting for the second place. Kazan spent two games this week, and on Tuesday they’ll start final series of EuroCup against Monaco. Due to it, UNICS gave some rest to the leaders, giving more minutes to Russian players. The hosts still hit 5 threes (Pavel Sergeev twice and Aleksandr Razumov twice) and won starting quarter (19:17).
UNICS continued to hit threes (9 2-point field goal attempts against 20 three-point attempts in the first half), Sergeev hit three more long-range shots. Anyway, more creative Lokomotiv (17-7 in assists) were eventually taking over the game. Will Cummings drives, Nigel Williams-Goss’ skills, Drew Gordon in the paint: Kuban made 9:2 run by the half time, won the quarter in double digits and had 9-point lead after two quarters of play (46:37).
Key moment
Lokomotiv-Kuban started the third quarter like there was no break. Gordon dunked and finished the alley-oop pass, and Williams-Goss and Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored from downtown. After a 10:2 run Krasnodar lead reached 17 points (56:39). Dimitrios Priftis took a time-out, but couldn’t change the game. Loko continued to increase the gap and made it to confident victory.
The success allowed Kuban catch up with UNICS and outpace them in standings and take the second place via head-to-head meetings advantage (2-0). Tatarstan finish the regular season in the third spot.
Hero
Drew Gordon. Center showed almost perfect game. In 22 minutes Drew scored 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists on 9/9 shooting.
Stat
32 – number of Lokomotiv’s assists. Krasnodar beat UNICS two times in this indicator (16).
Comments
UNICS head coach Dimitrios Priftis:
– It was a very strange game for us, because tomorrow morning we are flying out and today we should have been training instead of playing. But we must respect the decisions of the League. So we played as it happened. I am grateful to the players who played today, they really supported us. Immediately after the game, we will conduct a training session to prepare for the next game. I also want to thank the young players from UNICS-2 who supported us.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– I want to congratulate the guys, the whole club. It is a great achievement for us to take second place in such a strong championship. For us, this is a very great prestige and a very great achievement, but we understand that the whole struggle is ahead. Now, our task is to restore strength, physical strength and be ready for the playoffs. In the playoffs, everything starts all over again, so there is no relaxation, we go to our goal. As for today’s game, it is clear that UNICS did not play with the full roster. But everyone solves their own problems. Our task was to win and take second place. Yes, we started off relaxed, then talked before the third quarter, the guys came out and showed their skills.
