Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar defeated Zenit St. Petersburg on the road, 68-62 (19-12, 22-15, 10-17, 17-18).
Top Scorers
Zenit: Stefan Markovic (15+9 reb+5 ast+3 stl), Kyle Landry (11+7 reb)
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Vladimir Ivlev (14), Andrei Zubkov (13+7 reb), Matt Janning (12+6 reb), Ryan Broekhoff (6+10 reb)
Turning Point I
Trailing by nine, 58-49, early in the 4th quarter, Zenit put together a 13-2 run to go in front, 62-60, with less than four minutes remaining.
Stefan Markovic and Kyle Landry combined for 10 of the 13 points.
Stat
7-30 – Zenit attempted an incredible 30 three-point attempts, including 12 in the 4th quarter, but only connected on seven. After making three of six to open the final period, St. Petersburg missed its last six.
Turning Point II
After squandering the lead, Loko turned to defense over the final four minutes, holding Zenit scoreless to squeak out a six-point win.
Kevin Jones tied the game at 62-62 with a jumper, Matt Janning scored, and Andrei Zubkov went 2-4 at the line to help the Railwaymen finish on an 8-0 run.
Impact
Lokomotiv moves into 3rd place with an 8-2 record, leapfrogging Khimki, who lost earlier to CSKA.
Zenit drops to 6-3, losing back-to-back games at home to UNICS and Lokomotiv.
Quotes
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– We didn’t lose in the final minutes, but rather after the two quarters in which we gave up 41 points. In the second half, we only gave up 27. We found the right combination that could play from the defense despite our poor offense. Only those five guys, for various reasons, could defend. Any substitutions begin to cause difficulties.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sasa Obradovic:
– Zenit is a big team and playing excellent basketball. We played smart, tactical basketball and didn’t let their top shooters get open looks. As for our offense, we didn’t rush, as we often do. We tried to extend possessions in order to slow the game down and run it in the rhythm, which benefited us, not Zenit.
Up Next
Zenit: December 21 vs. Astana
Lokomotiv-Kuban: January 8 vs. UNICS
Snapshot
