The game attracted a big crowd – like every game between teams ranked second and third should. A long line formed at the arena entrance, and not everyone who had come to the Moscow Basket Hall made it in time for the starting jump-ball.
The debut were certainly something to behold: the teams set a high tempo, and in a rapid exchange of attacks, the home team initially took an 11:4 lead. Then, Lokomotiv’s defense picked up the pace, the gap began to tighten, and in the 6th minute, Vince Hunter, who had just entered the court, tied the score with a 2+1 – 13:13. Soon, Patrick Miller put Krasnodar ahead with a mid-range shot. The Muscovites responded with an 8:2 run, but Makar Konovalov and Royce Hamm brought the lead back to us, 23:21. Yet, MBA-MAI went into the first break with a minimal advantage – it was Danil Pevnev who lobbed an alley-oop to Andrei Zubkov, but scored himself instead.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, the hosts again began to attack flawlessly, leading 31:23 by the 12th minute. Anton Yudin‘s timeout paid off immediately: Ilya Popov outjumped two opponents in the post, Ivan Samoylenko made a steal and scored, Konovalov cleverly assisted to Miller – in just a minute, MBA-MAI’s lead was reduced to 2 points, so it was Vasily Karasev‘s turn to call for a timeout. For the next 3 minutes, neither side managed to score, until Konovalov finally tied the game at 31:31.
Miller soon increased Lokomotiv’s lead to 3 points, but Pavel Savkov scored the next 6 points in a row. Danil Sheyanov responded with 2, but Savkov immediately hit another 3-pointer – 36:40, and here’s Yudin‘s second timeout. MBA-MAI gradually pulled ahead by 7 points, but before the big break Loko again came within one shot – 41:43 after 2+1 by Kirill Temirov.
Meanwhile, about 30 Lokomotiv Kuban fans gathered in the stands of Moscow’s Basket Hall.
As the game resumed, Loko’s 3-pointers finally started going in again: the first to score was—who would you believe?—Hunter, 46:47. Soon, the defense went hard: first, Samoylenko made a steal and raced to score, and 30 seconds later, Miller did the same—and even dunked.
It was Miller who was dragging Lokomotiv forward these minutes, repeatedly being fouled and scoring 1 point after another. The Muscovites, thanks to Zubkov, who also made several free throw attempts, tied the game at 57:57, but Hamm and Kassius Robertson each scored 3. Maxim Barashkov also scored a long-shot, but the Krasnodar team still won the quarter, 64:62.
After a somewhat hectic start to the 4th quarter, Barashkov tied the score, but Samoylenko immediately replied with a long-shot, making it 67:64. Then it was Miller time: Loko captain brought his team 6 points. Halfway through the quarter, Anton Kvitkovskikh‘s steal and Hunter‘s shot made the score 77:70.
Soon, Samoylenko added his another steal-plus-2-point combo. But MBA-MAI wasn’t about to give up: Zubkov scored 2+1, Barashkov added 2 more on a quick transition, and Vyacheslav Zaitsev returned it to a one-possession-game, 82:79. For the first time in the history of their rivalry, the teams entered the clutch (previously, all games ended with “+8” or more).
Hunter grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. Hamm immediately made a powerful block on Pevnev, and Miller surpassed 30 points for the game. But Zubkov scored, Loko missed their 3-point attempt, and Pevnev once again made things close – 86:83 with 32 seconds to play.
After a timeout, Miller found an opportunity to score 2 more points (it was his 33rd in total – new career-high!). Zaitsev immediately scored 2 too. With 5 seconds left, Hunter received the ball and was fouled, but missed both attempts from the line. Barashkov grabbed the rebound, and the ball fell off his hands and went out of bounds off his foot. There was no chance for MBA-MAI to get the ball back in the remaining 1.2 seconds.
However, the 3-point margin (88:85) did not allow Loko to surpass MBA-MAI in the standings (which they would do if the gap was “+4” or more).
Nevertheless, the Krasnodar team is heading to Perm in a victorious mood. The game against PARMA will be held as a part of the Winline Basket Cup season on October 15, 5:30 PM.