MBA beat Lokomotiv Kuban at home — 89:76 (19:18, 23:24, 27:12, 20:22).
The best scorers:
MBA: Daniil Kasatkin (26 + 6 rebounds + 9 assists), Andrey Lopatin (17 + 8 rebounds), Evgeny Voronov (13)
Lokomotiv Kuban: Jaylen Barford (16 + 6 rebounds), Darral Willis (15 + 9 rebounds), Andrey Martiuk (15), Anton Kvitkovskikh (10)
Game progress
MBA and Loko are direct competitors for the Top 4 place. This game was important for both teams – the win would help MBA to be closer to Zenit, Lokomotiv would catch up with the Moscow team and break away from Pari NN.
The start of the game was equal. In the first minutes, Loko made a 7:3 run, but the hosts led by Daniil Kasatkin quickly equalized the score. From that moment on, the game was tight. Closer to the end of the first quarter, Loko regained regained the lead with 3 threes in a rowby Dmitrii Uzinskii and Anton Kvitkovskikh. However, Evgeny Valiev and Kasatkin, who gave out another bright segment, still helped MBA to finish the starting quarter as leaders.
The second quarter began again with the Krasnodar team run with Jaylen Barford solo, but MBA scored with difficulty when Daniil Kasatkin was on the bench. However, Kasatkin came out in the second quarter did not get into the game scoring only 2 free-throw points, but Ilya Platonov caught the courage. The scenario of the first quarter was repeated and as a result the first half did not reveal the leader – 42:42.
The key moment
MBA started to gain momentum in the third quarter. But in the beginning of the quarter, Loko took the lead due to Barford bright game, but the Moscow team quickly adapted and was able to guard the best scoring player of the guests and Loko also made several turnovers. MBA chose a pressure in the paint and began to build up the lead, scoring two-pointers and making the opponents to foul. Andrey Lopatin and Evgeny Voronov scored three-pointers well. A 14:0 run made a double-digit difference by the end of the quarter – 69:54.
For the remaining 10 minutes, Lokomotiv Kuban tried to get back into the game several times, trailing by 8-10 points. But first, 5 points in a row Evgeny Voronov and then another great segment by Daniil Kasatkin did not allow the guests to hope for the good ensing. After the loss in Saratov, MBA is gaining momentum again, having won the 2nd game in a row. Loko will have a difficult against the leader of the regular season CSKA in the next round.
Hero
Daniil Kasatkin. MBA coaching staff gave the young guard offensive freedom and Kasatkin justified Vasily Karasev trust with hisbest game in the United League – 26 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists with 35 eff. points (all stats became a season high for Kasatkin).
Numbers
47 points were scored by MBA bench. The push given by Kasatkin and Voronov coming off the bench determined the game. Loko bench scored only 19 points.
What’s next
MBA: road game against MINSK on December 18
Lokomotiv Kuban: road game versus CSKA on December 16
