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Loko broke the MBA-MAI resistance

Lokomotiv Kuban PBC has beaten Moscow's MBA-MAI away (93:85). Three wins in the first three games is a repeat of the best start for the Krasnodar club in the VTB United League.

Loko approached the third game in the league at the 1st place ‒ thanks to the best points difference, the Krasnodar team was ahead of CSKA, Pari NN and Zenit.

The next opponent was the Moscow Basketball Association, also known by the abbreviation MBA. Moreover, now it is correct to call this team by an abbreviation twice as long ‒ three more letters were given due to cooperation with the Moscow Aviation Institute.

Despite the fact that MBA-MAI sounds like the name of some exotic tribe, the club is faithful to taking exclusively Russian basketball players to its roster. It is no secret that Loko is striving for something similar ‒ albeit by a different way.

The first quarter left a clear sense of pleasant déjà vu for Krasnodar fans. To begin with, Andrey Martyuk opened the score for the third time in a row. And then Lokomotiv began to score points at a daring pace that we consider rather North American than European.

Martyuk put in a great hook; B.J. Johnson made an elusive three-pointer from the corner; Patrick Miller made a great assist to Kirill Yelatontsev ‒ and all this in the first 4 minutes.

But that was just a warming up. Then the long-range shooting festival began: both teams made a total of 6 three-point attempts in a row, 4 of which were scored by the Railwaymen. This is exactly what we expect from Karvel Anderson, but a 3-pointer by center Yelatontsev was naturally a surprise that raised the entire away fan sector to its feet.

The result of the first quarter was 37:23 in favor of Lokomotiv. Going to beat the club scoring record (127 points), set by the red-greens just 4 days ago?

MBA-MAI said no. The Muscovites managed to slow down the pace, while their experienced leaders Evgeny Voronov and Andrey Zubkov scored points quite regularly.

The Krasnodarians also had some bright moments in this period, such as Anton Kvitkovskikh’s long shot and Vladislav Yemchenko’s solo run. But still, by the big break, there was very little left of the guests’ advantage – 54:50.

Now it was time for Loko to stop the opponent’s attacking impulse. Miller, like a grandmaster, forced Pasha Ismailov to commit an unsportsmanlike foul; the team defense vertigoed Voronov’s head, forcing him passing nowhere; Miller and Yemchenko each made an steal in 7 seconds – all that put Loko 10 points ahead again, 62:52.

A courageous raid by Antonius Cleveland to the opponent’s hoop, 5 points in a row from Anderson and the great effort of Isaiah Whaley provided the red-greens with a quite comfortable lead before the 4th quarter – 76:68.

The Moscow team started another assault. Twice the MBA-MAI players managed to reduce the gap to 1 point. And each time Loko had an answer. The decisive moment was the 37th minute, which began with Yelatontsev scoring 2+1, making the score 86:82. Immediately, Whaley blocked Zubkov, and Voronov received his 4th foul on Anderson. The enthusiasm of Vasily Karasev’s charges visibly dried up immediately. And the intrigue was finally closed by Johnson’s long-range shot.

Loko is approaching the fourth game in the league at the 1st place ‒ thanks to the best points difference, the Krasnodar team is ahead of CSKA, Pari NN and Zenit.

The last time Lokomotiv Kuban started the season with three victories was 2014/15 (taking into account the Euroleague, there were even four victories in a row). Ten years ago, the railrwaymen’ streak was quite unexpectedly interrupted by Astana. This time, the opponent is certainly no weaker ‒ on October 2, the red-greens will play Avtodor in Saratov. The start is at 6 PM MSK.

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