Enisey Krasnoyarsk defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban in Krasnodar, 68-66 (19-20, 12-15, 18-17, 19-14).
Top Scorers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Taylor Rochestie (19), Mardy Collins (16), Kenny Gabriel (7 + 6 rebounds)
Enisey: Frank Elegar (18 + 13 rebounds), Vladislav Trushkin (12), Tony Taylor (11 + 6 rebounds), Vasily Zavoruev (6 + 7 assists)
Turning Point I
The second half was insanely competitive, featuring six ties and eight lead changes.
Enisey only got in trouble once, giving up a 7-0 run late in the 3rd and early in the 4th to go down eight, 57-49.
Suleiman Braimoh responded immediately, drilling a ‘3’ to cut it to 5, before Alexey Vzdykhalkin connected from deep to make it a two-point game, 57-55, with 7:15 to play.
Stat
Despite Enisey’s underdog status, this win was not a fluke. The Siberians out-rebounded and out-assisted Lokomotiv, while only turning the ball over 10 times.
Enisey’s biggest edge was on blocked shots, 8-2, including the dramatic stop by Trushkin on the final play of the game.
Turning Point II
The score knotted at 66-66 with 43 seconds to play, Krasnodar had a chance to take the lead, but Rochestie’s jumper was off the mark, giving the ball back to Enisey with 19 seconds.
With the clock winding down, point guard Tony Taylor drove the lane, drawing a foul on Vladimir Ivlev. The American drained both attempts, leaving Lokomotiv with a chance to tie or win the game.
On the in-bounds play, Rochestie drove the lane, then kicked to Broekhoff on the perimeter. The Aussie had a good look, but Enisey forward Vladislav Trushkin got there just in time, blocking Broekhoff’s attempt and sealing the upset.
Quotes
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Fotios Katsikaris:
– This is the worst possible way to start the season, losing to a team that we should have beat. Yes, we need time in order to get comfortable with each other, but we also need wins. I knew that we wouldn’t be 100% ready, and, of course, there are a lot of things for us to work on. But the most important thing is playing our best on defense and being confident on offense. We started today by literally playing ping-pong, scoring one point at a time, which is not what we wanted. The mental aspect is important for us. During the game, there were moments when we could have run away with the score and finished things, but, unfortunately, we didn’t do that.
Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
– We managed to get Lokomotiv to play the type of game we had planned. More than anything else, we executed against experienced players like Vougioukas and Broekhoff. We also managed to hold our line of defense the entire game. There were bound to be mistakes in this type of game. Loko was playing at home for the first time and was nervous. For the most part, we’d already started the season, but also made plenty of mistakes. Some things worked, others didn’t. That’s a typical process at the start of the season for any team. It was important for us not to give up mentally after some losses, although from the beginning we knew the competition would be tough. The guys worked hard on defense and I think that decided the outcome of the contest.
Up Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: October 23 at Khimki
Enisey: October 22 vs. Nizhny Novgorod
Snapshot
