Several Lokomotiv fans followed the team from Yekaterinburg to Saratov. In addition, about fifty employees of the Volga Railway came to the Kristall stands to support us. Looking ahead, we can say that their voices were clearly audible in the arena. Bravo, Lokofamily!
Avtodor started without hesitation and took a 5:0 lead. After that, Lokomotiv started scoring too – Vince Hunter provided our team’s first 7 points. The hosts reached their foul limit for the quarter in the 4th minute, and Anton Kvitkovskikh soon tied the game at 11:11. Patrick Miller responded to Pavel Zemsky‘s dunk with a good run to the hoop, but in general, the game was a low-scoring stretch for both teams. Jeremiah Martin capped it off with a long-range shot – Lokomotiv went into the first break with a minimal lead, 19:18.
Early in the 2nd period, Makar Konovalov and Vsevolod Ishchenko‘s shots gave Loko a 5-point lead and sent Avtodor to a timeout. The pause didn’t help Saratov much: our players kept forcing their opponents to make bad shots, while counterattacking effectively – Martin and Ishchenko (from afar) made the margin double-digit, 30:20. Malik Newman and Alen Hadzibegovic scored 4 points, Martin responded with a 3-pointer, Hadzibegovic got his 3rd personal foul, and Daniil Kasko got his fourth. Free throws altered Lokomotiv’s lead to “+12”, but the hosts managed to shorten the gap by halftime. BJ Johnson was the last to perform a protocol action in the first half, blocking Hadzibegovic, 41:33.
For 3 1/2 minutes after the restart, Lokomotiv struggled to score. But Avtodor wasn’t much successful either, so when Miller finally made 2 points, the score remained in our favor, 43-38. Twice, Miller answered Hadzibegovic‘s shots with baskets of his own. But misses still prevailed, and in the 27th minute, Avtodor tied the game at 48:48. Ishchenko hit a free throw, then a 3-pointer on the next attack, and thanks to Johnson‘s free throws, Loko’s lead was kept at 54:52 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
In the 4th quarter, Martin finally started scoring again, bringing things to 60:56. A little later, right at the 24 seconds buzzer, Martin forced Igor Volkhin to foul on his long shot, the Avtodor coach also received a technical, and after free throws, the lead grew to “+8”. The opponent scored 5 points in a row, and then Miller responded with a 3-pointer. Grigory Motovilov was blocked by Martin, but Artyom Klimenko still managed to score from under the basket with 0.8 seconds remaining in possession, and soon Alexander Evseyev brought the gap back to dangerous size, 67:65.
Hunter scored 1+2 (yes, 1+2, first a free throw, then 2 points after Loko rebound). After Motovilov‘s miss, Miller took advantage of Hadzibegovic, who was already on four fouls and hence not taking any risks on defense, to make it 72:67. Avtodor hit two 3-pointers in a short time, but Martin made a basket in between, letting Lokomotiv keep the lead. However, it wasn’t for long: Motovilov scored again from the perimeter, making it 74:76. Martin tied it from the free throw line, Hunter blocked Hadzibegovic‘s layup, and was fouled seconds later.
Lokomotiv’s center missed both free throws, but Newman also missed his 3-pointer. Temirov grabbed the rebound, received the ball in the corner a bit later, shot, miss—but Hunter grabbed the rebound, giving Lokomotiv the lead with 1.2 seconds left, 78:76!
Avtodor called a timeout, and when play resumed, Newman was throwing for the win—but from a very difficult position. Loko grabs a victory in Saratov—a nerve-wracking, difficult one, but a victory nonetheless!
Lokomotiv Kuban will now play in Nizhny Novgorod on February 4. The game starts at 7:00 PM.
Go, red-greens!