Like the previous game, this one started slowly: in 2.5 minutes, the teams scored only 5 points combined. Our two were scored by Patrick Miller.
UNICS forward DeVaughn Acoon-Purcell often played solo, but made a lot of mistakes. Lokomotiv, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of ball movement – in one of our attacks, it seemed three times that the home team player was about to take a shot, but instead passed to an open partner, and finally Anton Kvitkovskikh made the score 8:7 with a mid-range shot.
Gradually, such a play allowed to create a double lead, 16:8. After a timeout taken by Velimir Perasović, Ismaёl Bako got involved: in two attacks in a row, the Belgian center took rebounds under our hoop and made put-backs, regaining 4 points. But a mid-range shot by Miller, a 3-pointer by Isaiah Whaley (who scored 9 points in the first quarter) and a cool pass by Kirill Yelatontsev to Kirill Temirov created a 7:0 run for Loko. The quarter was summed up by 2+1 from Marcos Knight – 23:15 in favor of the Krasnodar team.
Temirov quickly restored the double-digit lead: he scored first from beyond the arc, then from the free throw line after an unsportsmanlike foul by Jalen Reynolds. And soon the stands of the Basket Hall, filled with almost 5 thousand spectators, roared with delight – Vladislav Yemchenko played an alley-oop with Andrei Martyuk.
Reynolds started getting the ball a lot in our post, gathering one foul after another – and gradually reduced the gap to 7 points. But Vsevolod Ishchenko and Whaley scored for Lokomotiv, so even despite Dmitry Kulagin’s 3-pointer and another put-back by Bako, the margin became double-digit again. The first half was finished by a great run by Tahjere McCall, 42:30.
UNICS’s spurt at the start of the 3rd quarter was stopped by McCall’s 3-pointer, 47:36. After that, Lokomotiv began to increase their lead: Miller scored 2+1, Yemchenko rushed under the hoop, McCall scored from a turnaround, Yelatontsev put the ball in after Miller’s throw – 60:43 and a timeout for Kazan.
Akoon-Purcell got set on fire – he began to score from any distance. Miller scored a 3-pointer, then another 2+1, but Reynolds from under the hoop and Akoon-Purcell from afar made the score 66:55, after which the Lokomotiv coaches had to take a timeout. Still, the next points were scored by Bako, and then Knight performed a long-distance buzzer despite McCall’s resistance – 66:60.
And soon the recent “+17” turned into “+2” – after Akoon-Purcell made a difficult shot, and Reynolds burst under the ring. Yemchenko scored a long shot, but Bako and Akoon-Purcell responded, making it 69:68. Yemchenko once again threw from afar – this time wide, and Knight put UNICS ahead for the first time since the opening minutes. In the next attack, Temirov fought with Reynolds in the attack, earned a foul and scored 1 of 2 free throws – 70:70.
Marcus Keene was forced to make a difficult throw – a miss. Knight earned his 4th foul on Whaley, who scored both free throws. Reynolds tied it, but Miller immediately returned Lokomotiv’s 2-point advantage. However, Keene responded at the very end of the possession by reminding everyone what exactly allowed him to become the best scorer of the VTB United League-2020/21 – he confidently put the ball into the target from the corner, 74:75. And then Antonius Cleveland scored a 3-pointer – these were the first points today for one of our leaders!
Knight missed from the arc, Miller missed too – but Temirov grabbed the rebound and made the score 79:75. Keene quickly made up 2 points, Yelatontsev decided to throw from the perimeter and missed – but soon rehabilitated, stealing the ball from Reynolds, who then fouled Temirov, and our forward scored twice from the free throw line – 81:77 with 1.33 left.
Another great defense from Lokomotiv, and Miller scored two points in isolation. Perasović took timeout – but after the resumption of the game, Cleveland stole the ball from Bako. When Miller is fouled, there were 40 seconds left on the stopwatch, and our point guard scored first his 28th, and then his 29th point of the evening from the line, 85:77.
UNICS failed to score until the end of the game, while our team managed to increase the gap by another point. Lokomotiv got their first victory in the bronze series!
Now we are waiting for Game 4 in this series – it will be held on our court again. We are waiting for you all in the stands of the Basket Hall on Monday, June 2, at 7:30 PM.
Your support will be very necessary for the team to even the score in the series.
Go, Loko! Push to the end, gain momentum!