Lokomotiv Kuban defeated MBA-MAI at home – 96:86 (34:16, 26:28, 16:18, 20:24)
Game progress
Loko made a 13-2 run at the start of the game. The hosts came close to 20-point lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Loko downgraded and even lost the quarter (26:28), but the score difference was enough to take a comfortable lead by halftime – 60:44.
The teams slowed down in the second half, and helped the Moscow team. MBA-MAI began to cut the deficit, which at one point reached 20 points. Vasily Karasev team responded to Loko with long-range shots. By the first minutes of the final quarter, the difference was only 12 points.
Key moment
In the final minutes of the game, the guests made the Krasnodar team fans nervous. However, MBA failed to put up a real fight in the end. Loko continued to hold a 10-12 point lead, and even the guests three-pointers were not enough to overcome that difference. Loko extends its winning streak to 5 games for the first time this year.
X-factor
Andrei Martiuk reached peak form closer to the Playoffs. 15+10 against Astana, 23+9 against UNICS, and 22+6 in today’s game, with Andrei needing less than 20 minutes for this impressive result.
Facts
Loko won 8th game in a row versus MBA-MAI.The Moscow team won in the first 2 out of 10 head-to-head games.
Andrei Martiuk scored his 1,500th point in the VTB League.
Leaders
Lokomotiv Kuban: Andrei Martiuk (22 + 6 rebounds), Antonius Cleveland (13 + 3 steals), Patrick Miller (10 + 7 assists), Anton Kvitkovskikh (10), Isaiah Whaley (10), Tahjere McCall (5 + 4 steals), Dmitrii Uzinskii (2 + 5 rebounds)
MBA-MAI: Daniil Kasatkin (14 + 6 assists), Maksim Barashkov (13), Ivan Belousov (11 + 6 assists), Maksim Lichutin (7 + 5 assists), Evgeny Minchenko (3 + 9 rebounds)
What’s next
Lokomotiv Kuban: April 13 at home against Uralmash
MBA-MAI: April 13 at home versus Enisey.
