CSKA defeated Lokomotiv Kuban at home – 94:74 (25-15, 24-22, 15-24, 30-13).
Game progress
After losing to Nizhny Novgorod last week, the Krasnodar team has a chance to take the 4th place and get the home court advantage in the playoffs. Loko needed to beat CSKA. The Army team could win 30 games in a season for the first time in United League history.
Already in the first quarter the hosts managed to get a double-digit lead, Artem Komolov played the key role. Then Ivan Ukhov scored 10 points in a quarter. CSKA hadd a comfortable 10-12 lead the rest of the first half.
Despite that, the hosts got better in offense in the second quarter and after the break Loko began to make a comeback the Army team. Jalen Barford started the run scoring 8 of 10 points. A 14-2 run allowed the Krasnodar team to tie the game, 51-51.
CSKA regained the lead, but would not have a comfortable margin. With one second left in the third quarter, Chris Horton cut the lead to three points – 64-61.
Key moment
But the intrigue of the game didn’t last long. Livio Jean-Charles and DeVontae Cacok helped the Army team regain the loead. Loko managed to trail 5 points, but CSKA quickly began to build the lead with three-pointers. Casper Ware and Jean-Charles actions pushed the lead to 16 points, turning the game into a formality.
Key Factor
CSKA’s bench made a key contribution to the game. Komolov, Cacok and Jean-Charles trio did their best, and while the Russian scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter and Jean-Charles helped in the end.
Fact
For the first time in United League history, the regular season 1st place has 30 wins. The Army team got only 2 losses in 32 games.
Leaders
CSKA: DeVontae Cacok (16), Livio Jean Charles (16 + 6 rebounds), Casper Ware (14 + 5 assists), Nikola Milutinov (12 + 8 rebounds), Dejan Davidovac (10 + 10 rebounds), Artem Komolov (10).
Lokomotiv Kuban: Jaylen Barford (21), Zakhar Vedishchev (15 + 7 assists), Chris Horton (10 + 5 rebounds).
