Lokomotiv Kuban beat Astana on the road – 98:67 (30:20, 25:15, 25:16, 18:16)
Game progress
Astana (4-17) and Lokomotiv Kuban (11-10) had the 11th and 6th places before the final game of the first stage.
Loko took the lead from the start already. With Andrey Martiuk actions, the Krasnodar team made an 11:2 run, DeVaughn Akoonn-Purcell and Zakhar Vedishchev added 2 three-pointers. The Krasnodar team used all players and effectively worked on defense. Markell Johnson and Kwame Vaughn tried to hold Astana and scored 26 points combined in the first half. But this was not enough. The guests led 55:35 by the halftime.
In the second half, Loko continued to control the game and took the win. And Lokomotiv finished the first half of the regular season with 12 wins and 10 losses.
Key factor
Daniil Aksenov, who scored 12.3 points and 3.5 assists in 25 minutes on the floor, moved to MBA this week. The loss of one of the key players affected the Kazakh team’s game.
Fact
Astana played against Aktobe in the Kazakh championship on January 17 and 18. Now, the VTB United League team leads the national championship standings, but this back-to-back wins had a negative impact on the energy for the team.
Game Leaders
Astana: Markell Johnson (22), Kwame Vaughn (17)
Lokomotiv Kuban: DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (17 + 5 rebounds), Jaylen Barford (17 + 5 rebounds), Zakhar Vedishchev (13 + 5 rebounds), Vladislav Emchenko (11)
Next games
Astana: home game versus Enisey on January 28
Lokomotiv Kuban: road game against Zenit on January 29
