For Lokomotiv fans, the fun began long before the game. On October 7, the active support sector of the Krasnodar Basket Hall celebrates its birthday – on this day in 2012, the team’s active support organised for the first time.
So before the game with Samara, the club arranged a tour around the Basket Hall for about 30 active supporters: they were shown the gym, the guest locker room, the sound and light cabins, the VIP box, and the press conference room, where (surprise-surprise!) Karvel Anderson answered the fans’ questions.
The game itself began with a 7:0 run by Lokomotiv, started and finished by B.J. Johnson, who scored first from mid-range, then from long range. Patrick Miller soon scored from behind the three-point line, and Antonius Cleveland, who had just come off the bench, hammered down one more of his signature dunks.
Samara gradually managed to level the game and even get ahead. But then Vladislav Yemchenko made 2+1, returning the lead to the home team. The visitors scored again, and in the last possession of the quarter, Cleveland slipped, but managed to push the ball to Yemchenko, who tied the score with a buzzer – 22:22.
Samara entered the game without Hayden Dalton, who was outstanding at the start of the season. But the absence of the leader, on the contrary, united the Volga team: in the 2nd quarter, the visitors showed a real defensive master class.
For a long time, a three-pointer from Miller and Anton Kvitkovskikh’s mid-range shot remained the only points scored by Loko this quarter. But gradually Andrey Vedishchev’s charges adapted to the tense defense, Andrei Martyuk impressively scored in a fast break – and the hosts approached the big break with quite an acceptable gap, 36:40.
In the first two attacks after the big break, the Krasnodar team tied the score – just to miss a 0:10 run. After the timeout, things went much better for Loko: a successful slalom by Yemchenko, 2 points by Isaiah Whaley and a block shot by the same player, as well as accurate throws by Cleveland and Mikhail Vedischev returned the situation to what it was at the beginning of the quarter – 48:52.
However, Loko started the 4th ten minutes at “–5”, 50:55. Johnson was the first to make a score in this period. Then Miller (for the umpteenth time today) scored 2 points in a power run into the very thick of the opponent’s players. Kvitkovskikh added three points – and now it’s 55:57!
Cleveland was fouled while making a three-pointer and even though he only made 2 free throws out of 3, he tied the game. Samara, which lost first Alexander Gudumak and then Gleb Goldyrev due to an excess of fouls, was finding it increasingly difficult to cement its three-second line as solidly as in the first 3 quarters.
Whaley scored from afar, Miller beautifully finished off a long, long play, Yemchenko made it in first from behind the 3-point line, then on a fast break – and here we are: Lokomotiv has a double-digit lead, and there’s just a little bit to play!
The last half minute didn’t decide anything. Lokomotiv Kuban extended its record series to 6 wins at the start of the season. A great gift not only for the fan sector, but also for the other 3,100 spectators who saw it live!
The next match is on October 16 at 8 PM against Uralmash (who today defeated Yenisei away). We are waiting for you at the Basket Hall! Today, Lokomotiv once again proved that it can give strong emotions!