Jalen Reynolds was out of the roster for this game. Lokomotiv also had a player out – it was Isaiah Whaley. On the other hand, Alexander Gudumak was back – and he became one of the main heroes of the opening segment, scoring 4 of the first 6 points for the Krasnodar team. And then it was time for Anton Kvitkovskikh, who got on fire and scored 13 points by the end of the first quarter.
But UNICS had a decent response to every shot scored by Loko. Okay, not quite every time – for example, Patrick Miller managed to block a shot by Ismael Bako once. However, the gap never exceeded 3 points during the first 10 minutes, and the leader switched 12 times.
The first seconds of the 2nd quarter gave the impression that the pendulum of leadership will keep swinging side to side, but in the next 2.5 minutes UNICS turned a 1-point deficit into a double-digit lead, 38:28. At that moment, Antonius Cleveland started soloing – he scored 10 points in a row, alternating runs to the hoop with long shots. The whole Krasnodar team defended well during these minutes, so the score soon became equal again, 40:40. Then the pendulum time resumed – by the big break the scoreboard showed a tie, 46:46.
Сразу после возобновления игры УНИКС снова убежал на 5 очков, и на этот раз на выручку «Локомотиву» пришёл Кирилл Темиров, который забил с периметра, в следующей же атаке заработал фол во время трехочкового броска – и забил все 3 штрафных, 52:51 в пользу краснодарской команды.
Это вдохновило и других игроков красно-зелёных, которые принялись класть точно в цель один дальний бросок за другим: отличились Данил Шеянов, Кливленд, Владислав Емченко. Параллельно с этим Квитковских продолжил быть полезным на обеих сторонах площадки, и когда Таджер Макколл одновременно с сиреной об окончании периода забросил совсем уж сложную «трёшку», захотелось испытывать относительно исхода матча сдержанный оптимизм – 75:71.
Immediately after the game resumed, UNICS ran away by 5 points. This time Kirill Temirov came to the rescue of Loko: he scored from the perimeter, then earned a foul during a 3-point throw and brought his team 3 points mores, 52:51 in favor of the Krasnodar team.
This inspired other red-greens, who began to put on target one long shot after another: Danil Sheyanov, Cleveland, Vladislav Yemchenko put themselves in the scoring sheet. Kvitkovskikh continued to be useful on both sides of the court, and then Tahjere McCall scored a really hard 3-point buzzer – 75:71 for Loko!
But Artyom Komolov and DeVaughn Acoon-Purcell quickly brought the score back to 77:77 with their 3-pointers. UNICS tried to break away once again, but Gudumak showed his skills in scoring from afar and from a tight fight under the hoop.
The hosts continued to score 3-pointers: after Marcos Knight and Andrey Lopatin’s shots, the score margin became alarming – 85:94 with 4 minutes left before the buzzer. Miller scored 2 free throws, Cleveland caught Bako on a foul in the attack, McCall showed that he can Eurostep forcing Velimir Perasović to take a timeout, 89:94.
Квитковских вскоре отыгрывает ещё 2 очка, красиво оббежав Дмитрия Кулагина. Но уже в следующем эпизоде Антон получает 5-й фол и досрочно покидает паркет. Бако забивает оба штрафных – 91:97 при полутора минутах на счётчике оставшегося времени.
Kvitkovskikh wins back 2 points, skilfully outrunning Dmitry Kulagin. But in the next episode Anton gets his 5th foul and goes off. Bako scores both free throws – 91:97 with 1.5 minutes left.
Alas, at this moment the composure of the Loko players fails: two ill-prepared attacks in a row, quick responses from UNICS – and now it’s 91:101. The Krasnodar team fights for the entire remaining minute, but too much was missed earlier. Well, the Kazan employees of the Gorky Railway, a branch of Russian Railways, who came to cheer for Loko, witnessed an exciting game.
Now Lokomotiv Kuban goes to Nizhny Novgorod, where the game against Pari NN will start on March 26 at 7 PM.