Only one Loko player out of four who worked at the training camp was included in the match roster – Alexander Shcherbenev. He entered the starting lineup of the Russian national team, and in the first 5 minutes that the guard spent on the court, his team scored 12 points, conceding only 4. Alexander himself actively participated in pressing and attacking passes, but did not get on the scoresheet. After Zoran Lukić replaced the starting five, Samara managed to slightly reduce the gap, and the 1st quarter ended with a score of 23:20 in favor of the national team.
In the 16th minute of the game, Shcherbenev appeared on the court again. Russia led 34:32 at the moment. Three and a half minutes later, Alexander made his mark on the match report – he boldly went under the opponent’s hoop and scored with a foul. Alas, he missed the free-throw, but the Russian team won the rebound, the ball came to Sasha again – and at the end of the possession, he scored from about eight meters, thus getting 2+3 in one attack! The quarter ended 42:37 in favor of Russia.
At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, Shcherbenev made two assists – to Ilya Popov under the basket and to Alexander Petenev to the 3-point line, after which Loko’ guard went to the bench to rest. The score at that time was 49:37 in favor of the Russian team. With the same difference of “+12”, the teams eventually went to the 3rd break, 61:49.
Two minutes after the start of the 4th quarter, Shcherbenev appeared on the court again – the scoreboard at that moment was 61:51. Sorry for spoiler, but Alexander did not leave the court until the very end of the game – and it happened to be more than 8 minutes. He gave an assist to Andrei Lopatin for 3 points, forced James Thompson and Justin Roberson to foul with the same move, and scored one free throw out of two.
But Samara have caught the courage, made one interception after another, forced the national team players to foul in attack – and 14 seconds before the end of the quarter Dražen Anzulović guys took the lead, 74:72. After a time-out, Shcherbenev dribbled the ball, and passed it to Timofey Gerasimov who managed to equalize after a reckless run to the hoop. Overtime!
In the first seconds of extra time, Shcherbenev made his 4th assist – to Petenev, who brought the Russian team ahead – 76:74. Then the game of nerves and mistakes began. The national team had the final possession of the ball: Shcherbenev accelerated the attack, the ball eventually ended up on the three-point line in the hands of Alexander Platunov – but his shot just hit the side of the hoop. So, Samara won this exciting match with a score of 78:77.