Livio Jean-Charles won the opening jump-ball, but made a travelling violation 5 seconds later. However, he corrected himself in the next episode, opening the scoring in the match from under the hoop. Loko responded quickly: Vladislav Yemchenko confidently made it in from about 5 meters – 2:2. The next 5 points were scored by the guest team (Jean-Charles – 2, Anton Astapkovich – 3), to which the hosts responded with a three-pointer scored by Dmitry Uzinsky after a pass from Martyuk, who fought well in the guests’ post.
Soon the stands erupted into applause as DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, who had missed the previous two matches, entered the court. A minute later, the applause was repeated – this time for Nikita Kurbanov, whom the local public saw for the first time after his disqualification.
CSKA attacked in these minutes with variety and precision; Loko snapped back from time to time: Jaylen Barford after the slalom, Martyuk after another offensive rebound, Akoon-Purcell from a three-point line. However, 3 and a half minutes before the end of the starting period, the scoreboard showed 13:21 in favor of the guests, so Alexander Sekulić took a time out.
Maurice Ndour was fouled and continued to shoot free throws without a single miss: 10/10 in 5 games for Loko! Immediately, Kirill Yelantonsev sumptuously covered Melo Trimble’s throw, Ndour made an inventive pass to Kirill Temirov in the arc… alas, a miss. Semyon Antonov and Kurbanov, in turn, scored. But it was Martyuk who finished the 1st quarter: for the umpteenth time he fought well in the paint against two opposing players and hit the target with a soft hook – 17:27.
Loko started the 2nd quarter with successful defense; it’s a pity that they failed to score in the response attack, despite two consecutive offensive rebounds. Then CSKA players’ shots were blocked twice in one attack – first by Martyuk, then by Okaro White. At the beginning of the 13th minute, the first effective action in this segment finally happened: Martyuk scored one free throw, missed the second, but White added the ball into the hoop – 20:27.
Soon White scored a three-pointer, then Loko attacked for almost a minute in a row, this time taking 3 offensive rebounds in one possession. They failed to score this time, but when Jean-Charles ran on a counterattack, his shot was blocked by Martyuk, and White was again the first to finish, dunking the ball into the hoop furiously after a slightly inaccurate alley-oop played by Uzinskiy and Barford. After this dunk, Okaro hung on the hoop for a few more seconds, allowing the crowded stands to shout out loudly – 25:29.
Amate M’Baye forced the opponent to foul on his long throw and scored all three free throws. But Loko had already clearly caught the spirit: first, Yelatontsev, in a Jordan-style turn, scored from 5 meters in the last second of possession; then Barford calmly made a three – 30:32, so Emil Rajković took a time out to wake his team up.
After the break, Astapkovich and Trimble scored 5 points each, and the Krasnodar players, on the contrary, temporarily lost their accuracy, which allowed CSKA to make a 10:2 run and finish the 2nd quarter, leading 42:32. However, the stands of “Basket Hall” have more than once seen their favorites outplay even bigger margin.
And the first attack in the 3rd quarter was completed by Martyuk with a spectacular jump shot. Yemchenko scored 3 points, White intercepted the ball, and soon he was also accurate from distance – 40:42! In the next attack, CSKA violated the 24 seconds rule, then Barford was fouled on a three-point line and brought Loko ahead for the first time in the match – 43:42. Astapkovich scored 3 points, but a few seconds later Uzinsky was passed to the empty hoop, and confirmed his qualification as one of the league leaders in accurate two-pointers – 45:45.
White was definitely hot at the moment: another accurate long-range shot lifted his personal scoresheet to 15 points. Martyuk continued to dominate in the paint, scoring another exemplary mid-range shot despite Kurbanov’s resistance – 50:50. Another 2 points by White (this time acrobatic, from under the ring, through the thick of the rival hands), a three-pointer by Akoon-Purcell, again two perfect free throws from Ndour – 57:54 2 and a half minutes before the end of the quarter.
The game became sticky, the opponents began to stand on the free throw line every now and then. CSKA was more successful in this component and even took the lead, but not for long: the 3rd quarter ended with an accurate mid-range shot by Akoon-Purcell – 61:60 in favor of the hosts.
Two points by Alexander Shcherbenev in the first seconds of the 4th quarter remained the only ones in the game period for both teams for a long time – until the 33rd minute, when Martyuk scored 2 more after a cool 180 degrees turn – 65:60. Trimble scored 2+1 in one attack, to which Akoon-Purcell responded with a precise two-pointer. Things went bad for the army team in attack, so Rajković had to take another time-out when the score was 67:63 in favor of Loko.
It didn’t help this time: CSKA continued to make difficult shots and to miss them. Meanwhile Loko scored thanks to Ndour, Yelatontsev, Akoon-Purcell – by the middle of the 36th minute the lead of the Krasnodar team reached its maximum in match mark “+9”, 73:64.
Trimble scored two free throws, and in the response attack Barford threw a very adventurous three-pointer – but made it in, 76:66!
Suddenly, Kurbanov showed that he still got it: two three-pointers in a row in 30 seconds, and now it’s only 76:72 two minutes before the end.
Well, so be clutch. Trimble’s 2-pointer reduced Loko’s advantage to “+2”. But White snatched the rebound on the opponent’s post and made it 78:74 a minute before the end.
M’Baye got the mid-range shot in, White missed from the three-point line, and Trimble tied the game with 8.8 seconds left. Sekulić took a time out to design a combination for Loko’s decisive possession. Shcherbenev was taken to an open three-pointer – missed! 78:78, six thousand spectators in the stands of the Basket Hall will behold overtime.
Extra time started with a precise shot by Tony Jekiri, who then added 1+1 from the free throw line. Martyuk quickly won back 2 points, but Trimble restored the gap to “–4”. Yemchenko scored one of two free-throws, and Trimble’s three-pointer was accurate. Then Ndour blocked M’Baye’s shot – but the ball was already flying in a downward trajectory, so the judges counted 2 points – 81:89.
And after M’Baye also scored a three-pointer, it became clear that Loko, unfortunately, failed to beat CSKA for the fifth time in a row.
The next game will be at March 20. PARMA, the only team that Loko has not beaten this season, will come to the Basket Hall. See you at the stands!