Lokomotiv-Kuban beat Kalev at home – 87:63 (26:19, 16:14, 22:13, 23:17).
Top scorers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Johnny O’Bryant (21), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (15), Sam Dekker (13), Will Cummings (12)
Kalev: Kyle Vinales (15 + 6 rebounds), Aigars Skele (12)
Story
Kalev have already beaten Zenit and UNICS this season, and started this game with 7-2 run. Kyle Vinales, Aigars Skele and Kristjan Kangur makes let Kalev lead the game for the first 4 minutes of the game. But Loko, that have just dismissed head coach Luca Banchi, took over the game quickly scoring 11 points in a row and finished the first quarter with a 7-point lead – 26:19.
The second quarter wasn’t very high-scoring. 2 consecutive makes by Aigars Skele were answered by Sam Dekker and Loko’s rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas. During all the second quarter the differential was within 5-10 points. Mindaugas Kuzminskas made a point before the half-time break – 42:33.
Key moment
After 20 minutes of game Kalev were losing by 9 points and were inspired to come back: Calvin Godfrey scored in the very first possession of the second half cutting the lead to just 7. But Loko eliminated all the Kalev’s hopes in the middle of the third: Johnny O’Bryant, Will Cummings and Mindaugas Kuzminskas made a 10-0 run increasing the lead to 17 points.
Aigars Skele drained 2 mid-range shots but it couldn’t help Kalev: the differential was 20 in the end of the third. As a result, Lokomotiv-Kuban got easy win – 87:63.
Return
Mindaugas Kuzminskas played his first game for the Lokomotiv-Kuban. Forward scored 15 points, 2 rebounds and 13 efficiency points.
During 2010-13 seasons Kuzminskas was Zalgiris player averaging 7.3 points, 3.1 rebounds.
Hero
Johnny O’Bryant. Loko’s center made a significant effort in his team’s run in the third quarter and became the top scorer of the game – 21 points. Furthermore, O’Bryant collected 4 rebounds and 3 assists with 23 minutes on the court.
Stat
63 – that’s the amount of points scored by Kalev in Krasnodar. Loko showed the best defense this season. By the way Kalev scored the same amount of points in the season-opener against Khimki.
Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: 25 November at home vs Zielona Gora
Kalev: 25 November at home vs Astana
Comments
Lokomotiv-Kuban acting head coach Bogdan Karaicic:
– Kalev is a great team, they got some important wins this season and proved that they should be taken into account. In previous games we got some confidence issues because of unsuccessful endings but today we were stable. I can’t say that it was only my doing, but we tried few new defensive tactics, for instance in the third and that let us play good part of the game. Fans should be mentioned too – they were fascinating!
Kalev’s head coach Roberts Stelmahers:
– We didn’t manage to show our best basketball tonight. We tried but played against good team, that showed its level in game against us, despite their previous games. We counted on Loko’s three-pointer problems but the opposite happaned. Not all our leaders showed 100 per cent dedication.
Photo
