Interview

Antonius Cleveland: “I love it when it’s really loud in the arena”

The Loko guard scored 18 points against CSKA (69:65), most of which came in the crucial moments.
Did you have any doubts throwing the second 3-pointer in a row at the last minute?
Absolutely none. I never miss twice in a row in situations like this. I knew I would score. Kudos to my teammates for the offensive rebound before that shot.
Why it was so hard to stop CSKA at the very beginning of the game?
I think they came out with a little more energy than us. They hit us first, so we had to regroup. But the game is long, we had time to pull ourselves together and hit them back. They scored only 9 points in the 2nd quarter. I think, that was the turning point.
Can you name one particular episode that helped Loko win?
I think it was at the end when we made them violate 24 seconds rule. We defended cleanly, didn’t let them take a shot, and that gave us additional confidence.
What can you say about the fan support today?
It was great. It was different from what I've seen in Krasnodar before. I felt their support from the very first seconds of the game. I hope to see all these fans at Thursday when we'll play against Nizhny Novgorod.
At some moment you started to cheer the stands...
Yeah. I've been doing that since college. I think people want to feel like we're hearing them, like they're important to us. And I love it when it's really loud in the arena. So I kind of conduct the crowd from time to time.
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