At the start of the game, Uralmash found paths to Loko’s basket with disappointing ease. The hosts managed to score either as a result of odd combinations (such as Vsevolod Ishchenko’s pass to Andrei Martyuk on the 3-point line), or due to the individual skill of BJ Johnson.
With the score at 10:15 in the middle of the quarter, Miller finally managed to score from under the hoop for the first time. Kirill Yelatontsev showed a good reaction to the opponent’s strike: after Stanley Whittaker ran around him and scored, the Loko center did not hesitate, ran to the opponent’s post and calmly put the ball to the basket, receiving a quarterback pass from Antonius Cleveland.
Vladislav Yemchenko from afar and Isaiah Whaley in a tense battle with Johnny O’Bryant reduced the gap to 1 point, but Whittaker with two long-range shots in a row returned his team to a two-shot advantage by the first break – 21:26.
At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, Mikhail Vedischev made two good long-range shots, returning the “–1”. But Uralmash continued to defend its post good, so the home team had no choice but to throw and throw 3-pointers – not with the percentage that the Basket Hall stands expected. So by the middle of the ten minutes, the guests led by 10 points, 27:37.
In the 16th minute, Loko finally managed to score several balls in a row (Martyuk, Whaley, Miller), while successfully defending. The score became 35:39, and Rostislav Vergun had to take a timeout. After the pause, Martin was blocked by Martyuk, and while the Uralmash bench demanded a foul, Miller ran away to counterattack and reduced the gap to 2 points. A foul was also given – a technical one to the visiting coach.
Enraged Martin turned 38:39 into 38:42, but in the next episode Whaley punched his courage away with a fine block. Both opponents fell into a frenzy and forgot about proper defense. In this chaos, Loko felt much better – a good example of this was the putback by Whaley. By the big break, the hosts were already slightly ahead, 47:46.
After Johnson made the score 52:49 from the three-point line, it seemed the scoring extravaganza were going to continue. This turned out to be half true: Uralmash kept scoring, while Loko had a hard time. In one of the attacks, three consecutive offensive rebounds did not let hosts score. However, there were occasional lucks, such as Yelatontsev’s shot from mid-range.
This continued until the middle of the quarter, when Basket Hall saw that very Cleveland it had been waiting for – swinging like a pendulum, AC burst under the ring and made a layup without any apparent difficulty, 56:58. This, like an alarm clock, brought Loko out of hibernation for the second time in the match. Uralmash was again no longer allowed to do anything in attack, and in the 29th minute the hosts took the lead after a counterattack, where Cleveland shared the ball with Vedishchev. Nevertheless, the siren at the end of the quarter still recorded a minimal lead for the guests – 65:66.
The 4th quarter began with Whaley’s 4th blocked shot and Yelatontsev’s dunk. As soon as Tyrell Nelson scored a 3-pointer, Kirill Temirov responded with the same, returning the scoreboard to parity. This moved the initiative to the Loko players: it seemed that the Uralmash legionnaires had enough of it, and the hosts were more and more often successful in defense.
Soon after Johnson made the score 80:74, one of the leaders of the Yekaterinburg team, Javonte Douglas, was fouled out. Without him, it became even more difficult for the visitors to defend their “paint”. The same Johnson made the gap double-digit with a long-shot, then Cleveland and Miller converted a counterattack in 2 more points – and the outcome of the game was no more in question.
Loko celebrated Zubastik’s birthday by extending the winning streak to 7 games. But the next match will be very tough – UNICS is coming to visit us. The game is scheduled for 6:30 PM on Sunday, October 20. See you at the Basket Hall!
