Loko beats Tsmoki Minsk at home

In the first match after a break for FIBA World Cup qualification games, Lokomotiv Kuban defeated Tsmoki Minsk – 67:56. Mardy Collins is MVP of the game – 18 points and 5 rebounds. Ryan Broekhoff got 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Brian Qvale added 10 points and 6 rebounds.

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Qvale assisted by Lacey got first points in the game. Due to Kravish and Czerapowicz, Minsk managed to take the lead – 4:5. But Antipov’s dunk and Collins’ three-pointer restored Loko’s leadership. After Broekhoff’s steal and Ragland’s accurate shots, Tsmoki had to take a timeout – 16:9. Krasnodar’s advantage grew to 10 points, but Minsk attempted free throws successfully and the score of the first quarter was 21:17.

Sasa Obradovic used wide rotation and 11 of 12 listed players had come to the court by the second period. Both teams focused on defense. Loko tried to make fast breaks and made Minsk commit fouls. By the end of the first half, Tsmoki got two unsportsmanlike fouls and a 5-point lag.

In the third quarter, Loko’s leaders showed their best – Mardy Collins and Ryan Broekhoff got 5 points each, Brian Qvale added 4. However, Tsmoki prevented Loko’s score run. The advantage of our team was 6 points ahead of the final period.

In the fourth period, Minsk quickly got 5 team fouls and had no chance to break Loko’s rhythm by committing intentional fouls. The result of the game was 67:56 in favor of Lokomotiv Kuban.

Mardy Collins got 18 points and 5 rebounds, Ryan Broekhoff – 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, Brian Qvale – 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Joe Ragland got 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists. Travor Lacey added 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Quotes

- It was a very tough competitive game. After a 10-day break offensively we struggled to find the rhythm. It was very up and down. We missed a lot of easy things, lay-ups, open shots. We needed the first half to get rhythm and to get going. I think defensively, we did a really good job. We had 10 days to prepare for the game. We did a very good job with assists. Tsmoki played very hard, very tough, especially in the first half, they played physical.

Ryan Broekhoff, Forward of PBC Lokomotiv Kuban:

- First of all, congrats to my players because I think it was very hard to play this game. And threre are several reasons for this. One is that we lost game rhythm offensively. There was a lot of struggling for easy things. On the other hand, defensively we did a pretty good job. We managed to stop all their players with good concentration, good focus from all of guys. The team has certain difficulties today. Elegar had a back injury from the beginning of the week. He came back to practices but he could not play. Kulagin had a virus from the national team and he is pretty exhausted. Chris Babb is still struggling after his injury to find his game rhythm. These are certain objective reasons.

Sasa Obradovic, Head Coach of PBC Lokomotiv Kuban:

Loko beats Tsmoki Minsk at home

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