Pavel Ryabkov was included in the Lokomotiv main team roster for the first time, thus being honored by letting to run the team out for warmups.
After Patrick Miller and Vince Hunter scoring 2+1 each, the Krasnodar team took an 8:4 lead. Yenisei tied the game, but Kirill Temirov played strong defense in two consecutive episodes, Hunter showed his class in attack, Ivan Samoylenko scored his first points for Lokomotiv in official games forcing the visitors to take a timeout at 16:10 in our favor.
Our team showed good shape at the moment: Makar Konovalov made several classy passes in one of the attacks, resulting with a 3-pointer from Kassius Robertson. But Yenisei was good in the ending of the 1st quarter, turning 23:10 into 23:15.
Early in the 2nd quarter, Konovalov scored after a fine run, then Anton Kvitkovskikh shined: a 3-pointer, a block to Sergei Dolinin, two good free throws. But the middle of the period was the visitors’ time, who at some point cut the gap to 5 points, 32:27. Robertson hit a 3-pointer at the 24-second buzzer, but overall, the things were not so good for Loko, especially on offense, which was clearly struggling. In the final couple of minutes of the quarter, the ball finally started moving properly, but then luck ran out a bit – Miller‘s layup and Konovalov‘s undefended 3-pointer weren’t accepted by the hoop, leaving the teams with a 35:31 lead by the big break.
The game resumed brightly for Lokomotiv: Kvitkovskikh scored two points, Miller made a steal and also scored. But Yenisei was able to slow the pace again and – thanks mostly to Danilo Tasić and Dolinin – went within two possessions, 40:36.
At this point, as in the previous game, Kvitkovskikh took the initiative for Krasnodar: a block and 5 points in a row. After another good shot by Miller, the score was 47:38, but in the final 3 minutes of the quarter, only Krasnoyarsk newcomer Yegor Ryzhov managed to score – 47:42 heading into the decisive 10 minutes.
On the very first attack of the 4th quarter, Yenisei got within one possession. Robertson hit a 3-pointer, but Tasić scored 2+1 inresponce. Once again, Robertson scored from the perimeter, which was followed by Ryzhov‘s good performance inner post – 53:49. The tempo remained low, so all of the above mentioned took up 4 minutes of game time.
It’s worth noting that Lokomotiv’s defense found a working combination: the hosts confidently repelled the opponent’s next two attacks, allowing Miller to score four points in a row. However, Matt Coleman‘s perimeter shot immediately made things tense again – 57:52.
Hunter missed from mod-range, but Coleman responded with travelling, overdoing his fakes. Robertson and Ryzhov exchanged misses, and Miller found a foul and scored 1 of 2 free throws – 58:52 with 2.17 left.
After a Yenisei timeout, Coleman created a good attempt but missed. Robertson grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made both free throws into the bucket. The visitors rushed, allowed a turnover, and Lokomotiv began to spend their whole 24 attacking seconds – resulting in Robertson‘s 3-pointer, 63:52.
Nikita Yevdokimov quickly scored 3 points back, and Krasnodar once again made the most of their 24 seconds with Hunter scoring from under the hoop to make it 65:55 with 1.04 to play.
Tasić scored 1 of 2 from the free throw line, but Miller responded with 2 points, making Ryzhov‘s dunk no longer decisive – 67:58, Lokomotiv’s first victory in the championship!
Our next game is just around the corner—Sunday, October 5th—and it’s another home game. The opponent is Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Hurry to cheer on us, because after this, the red-greens will play away for two weeks.