The game started in a cautious way: Kirill Temirov’s two-pointer and Amate M’Baye’s free throws were the only points scored in the first 2.5 minutes. Then CSKA made a small run, mostly due to a lot of fouls by Loko. With the score 2:8, Vladislav Yemchenko scored a difficult mid-range shot, and then Tahjere McCall burst into the game very well: he made Nikita Kurbanov foul twice in a row, grabbed a rebound and sent Patrick Miller on a breakaway, then scored 2+1 taking the hosts ahead, 10:8.
From that moment on, the game began to rock from side to side: before the end of the quarter, the leader changed three times, and the result of the starting period was summed up by Yemchenko, who stole the ball from Aleksa Avramović and passed to McCall for a dunk – 18:18.
The pendulum of advantage continued to swing in the 2nd quarter: the teams took turns getting ahead, until in the 16th minute Loko pulled away by 3 points – thanks to Antonius Cleveland, who first performed a fine slalom, and then converted Andrei Martyuk’s steal into a dunk.
After the timeout, CSKA turned “–3” into “+3”, and after Kurbanov’s shot from the corner, it was the home team’s bench’s turn to ask for a minute break, 30:33.
McCall tied it up very quickly, but the hosts quickly scored 5 points in a row – Melo Trimble and M’Baye from the perimeter. And the quarter ended with the score 34:40 in favor of the guests. But it was obvious that the most interesting part was just beginning.
After the game resumed, Loko not only tied the score, but also took the lead quite quickly: Miller and Cleveland scored in fast transitions, Dmitry Uzinsky dunked, and then made it from beyond the arc, 43:42. The exchange of scoring started once again: Avramović began scoring one 3-pointer after another, Martyuk remembered how to dunk – the Kuban center was especially spectacular with an alley-oop from a pass by McCall.
With the score 49:49, CSKA made another run – this time 7:0. Passions boiled over after Kurbanov received a technical foul, deciding to say something to Martyuk, who slipped. The hosts were scarce in scoring, and by the 28th minute it was 49:58. McCall managed to bring his team 4 points in a row, but the opponent responded in kind – 53:62 before the 4th quarter.
Lokomotiv started the final period very intensively, and CSKA ran out of their foul limit after just a minute and a half. But only Yemchenko managed to score from behind the arc during this time. Casper Ware also scored tricky 3 points, Trimble and Livio Jean-Charles made their free throws in – and now it was 56:69. Another acrobatic shot by Ware and a couple of hard layups by Trimble turned the margin to “–18”, 59:77 five minutes before the end. Also, Uzinsky was out with his fifth foul. Game over?
Temirov had a different opinion: he scored a 3-pointer, scratched out a steal, which allowed McCall to get to the unprotected ring – 64:77. Each shot scored continued to require enormous effort from the hosts, but at least the ball started to fall into the hoop: Cleveland and Martyuk scored from the close range – and 68:80 with 3 minutes left in the game no longer seemed like a fiasco.
Tonye Jekiri fouled in the attack – and also had to leave the court early. In the counterattack of Lokomotiv, Ware first received a regular foul, then a technical, which turned out to be his fifth – 71:80. Jean-Charles scored his attempt, and Miller at first did not, but then did – thanks to McCall’s steal!
Another steal by McCall, and now Cleveland is hammering the dunk – 75:83 with a minute and a half left in the quarter. Trimble missed, Temirov made two free throws – and McCall steals again, on my, what is this guy doing, 79:83!
Avramović misses from afar, but Miller’s pass for a dunk to Cleveland is also a bit inaccurate. McCall make a foul and is eliminated. Avramović scores 1 free throw out of two – 79:84 with 18 seconds left. Lokomotiv takes timeout. What will the coaches come up with?
Miller passes to Temirov, and Kurbanov fouls him. The Krasnodar forward scores both free throws, the home team immediately fouls on Trimble, which doesn’t allow himself to miss either – 81:86, 17 seconds and Lokomotiv’s second timeout.
Alas, the throws of Yemchenko and Miller, who grabbed the rebound, are inaccurate, and what’s worse – Martyuk leaves the court with his 5th foul. Six players have already been sent out (we forgot to mention Ivan Ukhov earlier) – it will turn out the league sad record later.
Jean-Charles misses twice from the free throw line. The hosts foul on Yemchenko, he scores the first, misses the second – and Cleveland scrapes up the rebound and almost at the buzzer also gets to the line. 84:86, but CSKA manages to escape the pressure and even score in the remaining 0.6 seconds.
Now Lokomotiv has 3 away games to play. We start on March 22 with UNICS. We believe in the team!