Lokomotiv beats Afyon in Gloria Cup first game

In the first game of Gloria Cup preseason tournament in Antalya, Loko hammered Turkish Afyon – 78:66.

The players who played for their national teams in FIBA qualifications are back to Lokomotiv. However, only Russian players participated in the game against Afyon. Ponitka arrived in Turkey only on September 18^th and took his time to recover. Moustapha Fall had a small problem after games of the national team. However, soon he will return to practices.

Krasnodar’s advantage wasn’t big in the game but our players totally controlled the situation. Jamel McLean was the top scorer of Loko (25 points, 8 rebounds). Captain Dmitry Kulagin added 19 points and 3 rebounds. Dmitry Khvostov got 10 points and 5 assists.

Lokomotiv Kuban plays next Gloria Cup game against Besiktas on September 21^st. Lokobasket.com will broadcast the game at 5:00 p.m. Moscow time.

The game looked like the first game. We had only one practice after the return of players from their national teams. Even though there were good moments as it was the first game, we had some individual tactic mistakes and misunderstanding between players. But there were some good moments. The team played with good energy. I think we will work on mistakes and fix them as soon as possible.

Sasa Obradovic, Head Coach of PBC Lokomotiv Kuban

I cannot say the team has been completely new today. Moustapha and Mateusz haven't started practices yet. At the moment, different players are at different levels of readiness. But I'm satisfied with the result of the game. We played cohesively, aggresively. Despite our 16 turnovers, we can be satisfied with the game and move on.

Dmitry Kulagin, Guard of PBC Lokomotiv Kuban