Lokomotiv-Kuban beat CSKA at home – 103:94 (27:22, 26:31, 23:19, 27:22).
Top scorers
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Mindaugas Kuzminskas (25 + 6 rebounds), Nigel Williams-Goss (21 + 8 assists), Mantas Kalnietis (13 + 6 rebounds + 13 assists), Drew Gordon (16 + 11 rebounds).
CSKA: Tornike Shengelia (25 + 5 rebounds), Darrun Hilliard (15), Will Clyburn (15).
Story
Lokomotiv-Kuban (16-6) and CSKA (16-6) fight for a top-3 spot, the teams approached the game at 3rd and 4th places. Last time Loko beat CSKA in Krasnodar was on December 4th, 2016, the last win wherever – January 7th, 2018.
Two most high-scoring teams of the season sticked to their style despite the importance of the game. Almost all the first quarter was even, but on last minutes Mindaugas Kuzminskas put Loko up ahead – 27:22.
Via 6:0 run at the beginning of the second quarter Krasnodar took double-digit lead. But it was Darrun Hilliard’s quarter. The American scored 13 points and with Semen Antonov’s support put CSKA back in the game. By the big break the score was 53:53.
In the second half the game remained the same. 5 consecutive points by Tornike Shengelia put CSKA ahead, but Loko spent a solid defensive quarter, it helped took over the game. They didn’t allow Moscow to score 20 points in a quarter, led by Nigel Williams-Goss supported by young Sergey Dolinin and Andrey Martyuk Loko took the lead by the final quarter – 76:72.
After the shot from Shengelia the team were entereing the clutch with equal chances – 84:82, Loko with 5 minutes left. Soon, Hilliard had a flagrant foul on Kuzminskas. The Lithuanian hit both free throws, and in additional possession Drew Gordon scored 2 more points, collecting a few offensive rebounds. After Will Clyburn’s miss, Mantas Kalnietis stepped on the charity stripe – 91:82.
Key moment
Via Shengelia and Michael Eric efforts CSKA fight to the end. Offensive rebound and center’s shot on last minute gave CSKA hope – 94:97. In next possession Gordon scored crucial points, and Hilliard couldn’t answer from beyond the arc. With 25 seconds left Kalnietis hit technical free throws winning the game.
Lokomotiv-Kuban break bad streak against CSKA and climb to 3rd place.
Hero
Drew Gordon. Center collected double-double, 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7/9 shooting. He also 4th on the roster in efficiency, but it was him who made key clutch shots.
Stat
For 6 consecutive games CSKA beat Loko. Kuban haven’t beat CSKA since 2018.
Comments
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– Big win. CSKA are strong team in good shape. We were ready for the game to be like that, we did out homework. Our guys dedicated for all the 40 minutes. We showed our signature basketball with lots of assists and high pace. We weren’t perfect at defense and rebounding tonight, we allowed CSKA to collect 16 offensive rebounds. Now we have to recover and prepare for the game against UNICS in Kazan. Our goal is to get higher seed.
CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
– Congratulations to Loko. Tonight they were better and deserved the victory.
Next
Lokomotiv-Kuban: April 25 @ UNICS
CSKA: April 25 vs Nizhny Novgorod
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