Defense!
The game began with an accurate three-pointer by Haukar Palsson. The first half of the quarter was an equal fight, but already in the middle of the ten-minute Loko faced a serious problem in the form of three personal fouls of Alan Williams. Nevertheless, it was after this that the hosts made a small breakthrough and came out ahead with a score of 15: 8. Andorra tried to recoup immediately with the help of its main weapon – long-range shots. But in the first quarter they managed to score only two long-range shots. Loko played in a wide rotation, including an aggressive defense. The guests were not ready for this and after the first quarter were inferior to 23:15. Loko have grab 15 rebounds at once!!
The calm before the storm
The second quarter began less efficiently, especially considering the points of the guests, who did not score a single one in the first four minutes. This was due to Loko’s good personal defense. An indicative moment was the defense of Andrey Martyuk against the much more mobile Clevin Hannah on the perimeter. Andrey didn’t let his opponent throw a free long-range shot and then in a selfless jump pulled the ball from out to Williams. After a couple of possessions Martyuk made a blockshot to the guest center Malik Dime! It is worth noting that Loko also did not shine in attack at these moments, but with a ten-point advantage it can still be afforded.
So the teams were moving towards the half time – very carefully, with an eye to defense.
The rivals goes to the break with the score 37:27.
No change
At the start of the second half Andorra reminded everyone of their long-range shots, having implemented two already in the first minute of the quarter. Then the most experienced David Jelinek intercepted the ball and reduced the score to two possessions. Loko head coach Evgeny Pashutin immediately took a time-out to restore the team’s confidence. A few minutes later Loko managed to return the difference, including thanks to the confident actions of Kevin Hervey, who did not look like himself in the first half of the match. The defense of Loko started working again, after which the attacks of the guests began to take on a spontaneous character. Two minutes before the end of the quarter Williams left the court due to the fifth foul, but Alan still made his double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Will Cummings finished the quarter with a beautiful floater – 56:45.
Confident ending of the game
In the first minutes of decisive quarter we can remember the dunks of Reggie Lynch and Malik Dime. The first points in the game were scored by Grigory Motovilov. Five minutes after the start of the quarter Kevin Hervey quickly became the most productive player of the match. When the difference in the score began to grow the guests switched to their favorite game – with a huge number of three-pointers. But such a game did not bring results to Andorra that evening. Hervey, by the way, became the second player in Loko’s who make a double-double that evening! Loko wins with a score of 76:61!
Full match statistics are available on the official Eurocup website on link.