That was the third-ever game between the opponents. In 2012, in the EuroCup group stage (which Lokomotiv won), the teams exchanged home victories: 76:52 for Galatasaray in Istanbul and 91:66 for Loko in Krasnodar.
Makar Konovalov, Jeremiah Martin, Daniil Kosko, Anton Kvitkovskikh, and Kirill Yelatontsev were starters this evening.
The Turks quickly opened the scoring, and soon were leading 6:3. Martin and Kasko brought the score even, 8:8, but Galatasaray responded with a 6:0 run, forcing Anton Yudin to call a timeout.
Vince Hunter and Royce Hamm appeared on the court, but 6 minutes into the 1st quarter, the Red-Greens still were trailing 8 points, 12:20. Loko captain Patrick Miller and Hamm managed to reduce the gap to just one point, but the Turks scored a buzzer – 23:26 by the first break.
At the start of the second period, two consecutive 3-pointers by Kassius Robertson brought us a 29:28 lead. Then the teams started exchanging runs: 2:9, 0:8… Galatasaray was more successful – 43:49 after 20 minutes.
Miller opened the 3rd quarter with a mid-range shot, but the opponent quickly made the margin double-digit, 48:58, and soon it was “–14” – 48:62. Loko got bit closer, but it was still 73:82 by the final 10 minutes.
Kirill Temirov, Konovalov, and Hamm appeared on the court, but none of our guys were able to turn the tide of the game. Three minutes before the final buzzer, the hosts broke the 100-point lead, 85:101. In the remaining time, Loko only managed to make the score a little more pleasant, 96:103. Having played their third game of the week, Loko suffered their first defeat.
Our team’s leading scorer was Martin (21), Miller had 16 points, Robertson – 14, Hunter – 12+9 rebounds, Yelatontsev scored 10 points.
Lokomotiv Kuban will play their next game on September 12 against Anadolu Efes. The start is scheduled at 7:00 PM.