Lokomotiv-Kuban beat Nizhny on the road – 94:73 (30:17, 19:23, 21:21, 24:12).
Top scorers
Nizhny Novgorod: Kasey Shepherd (17 + 6 rebounds + 6 assists), Luke Petrasek (13 + 9 rebounds), Artem Komolov (10).
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Will Cummings (25), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (19 + 7 rebounds), Kevin Hervey (17 + 7 rebounds).
Story
Nizhny Novgorod (6-3) and Lokomotiv-Kuban (8-5) approached the game on the neighbouring spots in standings – 4th and 5th having 2-game losing streaks. Loko started with 7:0 run that allowed them take the game under control, and via Will Cummings and Jordan Crawford’s activity they finished the quarter 30:17. Krasnodar had lots of problems in the first half: 0 from 5 threes, 16-24 on rebounds. However, strong start and aggressiveness helped them lead by the half time – 49:40.
«Только не в Мещерском!»
Негостеприимный Иван Стребков накрывает блок-шотом соперника из «Локо» ❌ pic.twitter.com/5uz02jrm0s
— VTB League (@VTBUL) January 16, 2021
The third quarter was even – 21:21 and a 9-point advantage for Krasnodar by the final period.
Nizhny Novgorod started the third quarter with Artem Komolov and Luke Petrasek threes. However, there was no clutch. Lokomotiv-Kuban saved the gap via Cummings and Mindaugas Kuzminskas free throws.
Key moment
3 minutes before the buzzer Aleksandr Gankevich missed an open shot that was answered by Kuzminskas’ long-range shot – 84:70. In the remaining time Krasnodar increased the lead and took significant victory. Kuban are now 4th, NN – 5th.
Hero
Will Cummings. In 25 minutes off the bench the American scored 25 points hitting 8 of 11 including 2 from 2 from beyond the arc and 7 from 7 free throws.
Stat
Loko win for the first time in 2021. Considering EuroCup, Loko’s bad streak was 3 games.
Next
Nizhny Novgorod: January 23 vs UNICS
Lokomotiv-Kuban: January 31 @ Zenit
Comments
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Zoran Lukic:
– Congratulations to the opponent on the victory. They perfectly used their strong sides. They took over the game from the very beginning. At some points we were getting closer to them, but unfortunately with this field goal percentage it’s hard to compete with Loko.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– I’m happy for my team! We had a bad streak. In recent time we worked hard on practices improving our defense and rebounding. Nizhny is a spirited team that play physical basketball with high three-point percentage. It was really hard to guard their open shots. Our guys did good, were playing passionate. I think that since this game we are back on track.
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