Khimki Moscow Region defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar at home, 73-65 (20-13, 19-25, 18-14, 16-13).
Top Scorers
Khimki: Alexey Shved (21), Nobel Boungou Colo (21), E.J. Rowland (10 + 6 assists), Dmitry Sokolov (5 + 8 rebounds)
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Ian Vougioukas (15), Taylor Rochestie (13), Mardy Collins (10 + 5 rebounds + 10 assists)
Turning Point I
Leading by five, 57-52, to start the 4th quarter, Khimki put together a 10-0 run to seemingly doom Loko’s chances.
Shved, who scored a team-high 21 points in 16 minutes, knocked down two 3’s during the spurt, with Boungou Colo hitting another.
Loko didn’t score until the 5:30 mark in the period, when Broekhoff drained a ‘3’ on the wing to cut the deficit to 12…
Stat
10 + 10 – Loko forward posted a double-double in the loss, 10 points to go with 10 assists! The 198-cm American also pulled down five rebounds.
Turning Point II
The Railwaymen caught fire after Broekhoff’s 3-pointer. Rochestie and Khvostov both drained jumpers from beyond the arc, before Rochestie’s driving layup cut the deficit to four, 67-63, with 3:02 to play.
With Khimki reeling, Shved returned just in time to right the ship. He started by getting to the line for a pair of free throws. Despite missing the first, the Russian guard stopped Loko’s run and made it a five-point game.
After Kevin Jones scored in the paint, bringing the visitors within a possession, Shved hit the biggest shot of the game, banking in a jumper from the free-throw line with 53 seconds remaining.
Loko had a few more chances, but couldn’t get another ‘3’ to drop. Despite the scare, Khimki hands on for a 73-65, improving to 1-1 in the League. Loko drops to 0-2.
Quotes
Khimki head coach Dusko Ivanovic:
– This was a very tough game. And we understand that none of our upcoming games will be easy. At the same time, we know that if we want to win, first of all, we need to play really well on defense. Today, we demonstrated good defense. Alexey Shved’s play also helped us. He really wanted to be on the court and told me before the game that he wanted to play. Nobel Boungou Colo also looked good, but our defense was the main reason for our win. At the end, our opponent started playing quicker and knocked down two 3-pointers, but we were patient, which was an important factor in this win.
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Fotios Katsikaris:
– We had five days to recover mentally and physically. We needed to improve our play. We had a lot of open shots, and our snipers took them, but still missed a lot. We played well in the 2nd quarter and led the game. Everything was more or less even in the 3rd quarter, but at the end of the period, we committed a few mistakes in a row. As a result, our opponent had a five-point advantage entering the 4th quarter, which also played a role. The little details decided everything. We need to work, battle for each possession, for every moment, every rebound. We can’t lose confidence. Two losses–that’s not what’s expected of us. I want the team to demonstrate character.
Up Next
Khimki: November 6 vs. UNICS
Lokomotiv-Kuban: October 29 at Nizhny Novgorod
Snapshot
