Lokomotiv-Kuban defeated Avtodor at home, 79-61 (22-17, 21-13, 29-19, 7-12).
Top Scorers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Taylor Rochestie (17), Kevin Jones (14+8 reb), Ian Vougioukas (12+9 reb)
Avtodor: Josh Adams (16), Branden Frazier (11)
Turning Point
The home team’s discipline and execution on both ends resulted in Avtodor star Nick Minnerath picking up three quick fouls and heading to the bench. Krasnodar took advantage, picking up a double-digit lead at halftime.
After the break, Taylor Rochestie and Ian Vougioukas helped stretch the gap to 27 points. Avtodor captain Sergey Bykov fouled out in the 3rd quarter, eliminating any hope of a comeback.
With the defeat, Avtodor drops to 6-14. Saratov needs to go undefeated down the stretch in order to reach the postseason (Parma, Enisey, Zenit and VEF remain on the schedule), in addition to getting help from Astana and Nizhny Novgorod.
Stat
45-24 – Lokomotiv-Kuban’s bench dominated in this game.
Video
Lokomotiv Kuban vs Avtodor one minute highlights 🎥 pic.twitter.com/2lbhIqMyh5
— VTB United League (@VTBUL) April 3, 2017
Quotes
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sasa Obradovic:
– Congratulations to the team. We really needed to win today. There were moments when we didn’t run as fast as we would have liked and didn’t move the ball as well on offense as we’d hoped. 19 turnovers in a game like this is unacceptable. But a win cures all. I expect we’ll feel more confident about ourselves after this game. We look forward to our upcoming contests.
Avtodor head coach Vladimir Antsiferov:
– Prior to the game, we knew that Loko was good at halfcourt defense. We wanted to stop our opponent, even at the expense of a foul and being physical. Evidently, some players weren’t ready. At the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd quarters, we turned the ball over too often. Minnerath picked up three offensive fouls and we crumbled mentally. We were able to switch the defense and play our brand of basketball… Not just run and gun, but organized. But mistakes, misses and turnovers kept us from catching up. We’d let Lokomotiv pull away too much.
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Up Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: April 10 at UNICS
Avtodor: April 9 vs. Parma
