“Astana” greeted the guests accustomed to the sun with cheerful “-26” and ice so large that there was sand in the vicinity of the arena – at least change to a camel. However, looking ahead, a few dozen meters of flying gait from the bus to the doors of the Saryarka bike track became the most difficult test for the Loko players in this match.
Already at the end of three minutes, Andrei Martyuk scored twice from above and, like a man, went to intercede for Alexander Shcherbenev, on whom the leader of the hosts, center Michael Myers, fiercely fouled. The latter had something to be upset about – 3 personal comments and 11:2 in favor of players in white uniforms.
The guests continued to build up the advantage, demonstrating the fast basketball, so respected by head coach Alexander Sekulich, built on the foundation of the most aggressive defense with a large number of interceptions. Defender Zakhar Vedishchev first flew off himself, and then sent the ball flying with a subsequent collapse into the ring of forward Chris Horton. The leaders of Loko in terms of performance, Jaylen Barford and DeVon Akun-Purcell scored for every taste and by the big break they had scored double-digit points. 55:35 according to the results of the first half, Krasnodar players were much more productive on both halves of the site. The point guard of the hosts, Markell Johnson, seemed to regularly delight the few fans with points scored, but he lost the ball 5 times in the two starting quarters.
After the resumption of the game, Loko’s dominance continued – 10:2 at the end of three and a half minutes. I remembered that Sekulich’s wards scored a hundred this season only once – in an away match with Avtodor Saratov. They could have scored the same amount now – but in the last attack, according to the unwritten basketball tradition, they did not throw on the ring.
Well, before that, Vedishchev, with visible pleasure, scored from behind the arc himself, and treated Barford to a candy pass. Akuin-Purcell proved that for him to hit the ring even from 8.5 meters through the hands of a center opponent is just seeds. The rest of the Loko players gave energy and drive and drove the red-green armored train forward at maximum speed. Especially cool was the quick breakaway, in which Vladislav Demchenko gave a smart pass to Shcherbenev from behind.
With this match, Loko completed the first stage of the regular season. The next game – already within the framework of the two–round tournament of the top six – will be held on January 29 in St. Petersburg. The opponent is the current champion of the VTB United League Zenit.
And the next home match of Lokomotiv-Kuban will be held on February 7 against Pari NN