Tsmoki-Minsk Belarus defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban Russia at home in overtime, 88-84 (15-16, 19-23, 21-12, 17-21, 16-12).
Top Scorers
Tsmoki-Minsk: Devon Saddler (22), Filip Adamovic (15 + 7 ast)
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Dmitry Kulagin (20 + 5 reb + 5 ast), Frank Elegar (17 + 11 ast), Chris Babb (15 + 6 reb)
Story
Tsmoki-Minsk stunned visiting Lokomotiv-Kuban in overtime, 88-84, to win its second in a row. The Dragons trailed by five at halftime, but a dominant 3rd quarter reversed the momentum in the game.
Leading by 10 with four minutes to go, Minsk allowed Krasnodar to force overtime with a 15-5 surge, before closing out the win in OT.
Aliaksandr Kudrautsau and Chris Czerapowicz drained back-to-back 3’s to open the extra period and only allowed one Lokomotiv field goal in overtime to win by four, 88-84.
Dmitry Kulagin scored all 12 of Loko’s points in overtime and finished with a team-high 20 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the upset. The Russian guard earned 12 trips to the line, knotting the score at 82-82 with under a minute to go.
Tsmoki answered at the other end with Aliaksei Trastsinetski’s layup, before Filip Adamovic sealed the victory by going 4-4 at the line.
The Belarusians have now won back-to-back games after losing six straight and inch ahead of VEF for the final playoff spot. Lokomotiv falls to 12-5 and 4th place. Despite advancing to the EuroCup semifinals last weekend, the Railwaymen have lost four straight in the League.
Stat
14-29 – The Belarusians drained 14 triples, including two huge makes to open the overtime.
Quotes
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Alexander Krutikov:
– It wasn’t an easy game, even though we built a nice lead midway through the second half. Lokomotiv is a tough team; I think we could have finished the game in regulation. Of course, you need to make your free throws. But we bounced back and played with different energy than on Wednesday. The guys sacrificed and left everything on the court. Everyone who played today scored. That wasn’t the most important factor, though, but rather our unity as a team. Even when we trailed, we believed and competed, and played defense.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sasa Obradovic:
– Congratulations to Tsmoki-Minsk on the win. They deserved it. As for us, we must have been thinking more about the game on Tuesday. That’s why we weren’t focused enough and made a lot of strategic and individual mistakes.
Up Next
Tsmoki-Minsk: March 25 home vs. Nizhny Novgorod
Lokomotiv-Kuban: April 1 home vs. Astana
Images of the Game
