The dissatisfaction of the Loko coaching staff with the defeat in the previous game has led to several changes in the starting five: against Türk Telekom only Anton Kvitkovskikh and Patrick Miller continued to open the game. Kirill Yelatontsev started on the bench; BJ Johnson and Vsevolod Ishchenko were out of the roster this evening. Karvel Anderson, Andrey Martyuk and Antonius Cleveland took the vacant places.
With the score 2:2, Martyuk showed fine footwork in the opponent’s post. Lokomotiv worked very hard in defense, repeatedly repelling Türk Telekom attacks. And stung back mercilessly, as it was when Cleveland robbed Max Heidegger and dunked with great passion.
Miller got into the full swing: he scored 2+1, and then what? A three-pointer! Good work, Patrick! Thus the score became very pleasant – 15:4.
Kirill Yelatontsev, Dmitry Uzinsky, Kirill Temirov, Vladislav Emchenko, Isaiah Whaley came on as substitutes – and managed to hold on to the lead (especially after Uzi dashingly scored a three-pointer, 22:10). Isaiah made a brilliant block; Yela spectacularly added the ball to the basket – 24:13, a great first quarter, Loko!
Türk Telekom did not give up, they returned the score to 26:20 very quickly. But this turned Loko into highlight machine: Miller scored 2+1, then Whaley hit the target far outside from the 3-point line, Martyuk showed his attacking arsenal, Cleveland did some acrobatics – to the great delight of Krasnodar fans, who suddenly appeared in the Anatolian stands in pretty pleasant amount.
By the big break, the scoreboard showed 38:31 in favor of Loko. By most stats there was relative equality, but 7 block shots and 4 steals of Vedishchev’s team were still impressive.
In the 3rd quarter, Lokomotiv set a course for defence. Though, Uzinsky showed a lay-up in quick transition master class. A little later, Whaley showed that he is just as dangerous under the hoop as he is 4-6 meters away from it. At the end of the quarter, Loko increased the gap a little – 54:46.
The final ten minutes began with two episodes of excellent ball movement by Lokomotiv: first Uzinsky, then Anderson added “+6” to the margin.
Türk Telekom responded with a three-pointer, but then – oh my! – here came Martyuk’s globetrotting moment! In about 40 seconds, Andrey showed how he spent this summer: he processed his youthful fat into masculine muscles, said goodbye to his modesty – and found himself the very red-green machine that the entire Basket Hall dreamed of.
Martyuk scored 2 free throws, pushed the poor opponent under the shield, furiously dunked – here you go 66:49 with 5 minutes left, Ankara.
Türk Telekom still kept Loko aware, and the final siren set the score on the brink of two-digit level. The day after tomorrow the Krasnodar team will face its final rival at the Gloria Cup – Tofaş from the city of Bursa.
Lokomotiv Kuban – Türk Telekom 73:63 (24:13, 14:18, 16:14, 19:18)
Andrey Martyuk – 14+5+3 blocked shots; Patrick Miller – 14+4 assists; Antonius Cleveland – 12+4+4 steals; Isaiah Whaley – 8+10+2 blocked shots; Dmitry Uzinsky – 8; Kirill Yelatontsev – 5; Karvel Anderson – 5; Vladislav Yemchenko – 4+3 assists; Kirill Temirov – 3+3; Anton Kvitkovskikh – 0+5; Daniil Kasko – 0+1; Mikhail Vedishchev – 0+1 assist.