Anton Kvitkovskikh opened the scoring early, but Pari NN threw perfectly from the start: Ilya Platonov hit two 3-pointers, Kirill Popov and Ilya Karpenkov each added 2 points – 5:10 by the 3rd minute. Lokomotiv took their toll with aggression, stealing and going into contact fearlessly in search of fouls. Kirill Temirov, BJ Johnson, and Patrick Miller quickly put our team ahead (13:12), and the opposing coach called a timeout. For the first time in several games, Lokomotiv dominated the boards, allowing Ilya Popov and Vsevolod Ishchenko to score second-chance points. But our field goal percentage left much to be desired, and a rather chaotic quarter ended tied at 21:21.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, Sergei Zotkin, who had been playing point guard for the Volga team in the absence of Dmitry Khvostov, quickly picked up his 3rd personal foul. Zotkin was replaced by 18-year-old Alexander Shenderov, who showed himself good, but also picked up his 3rd foul quickly. Daniil Klyuchenkov, loaned from CSKA, made a strong debut for Pari NN, scoring from close range and beyond the arc. At one point, the opponents’ 3-point percentages looked very different: 63.6% for Pari NN (7 of 11) and 0% for us (0 of 7). Only then did Mike Moore finally connect from the perimeter, but Alexander Khomenko immediately responded with a long-range shot of his own. Loko stayed in the game thanks to rebounds (we led 22-10 at halftime) and aggressive scoring from the paint: I. Popov, Makar Konovalov, and Vince Hunter all scored decently. Pari NN went into the break leading, 51:46.
Lokomotiv emerged from the locker room in a completely different mood: Jeremiah Martin scored quickly off an assist from I. Popov, Kirill Temirov responded to Norbert Lukacs‘s three-pointer with a 3+1, and less than a minute later, Martin returned the favor to I. Popov with a sweet assist to make it 54:54. For a while, Nizhny Novgorod managed to maintain our team’s pace, but after a pair of 2+1’s by Martin and Hunter, a layup by Kvitkovskikh, and free throws by Johnson, the gap became double-digits. Miller‘s 2 points capped the 3rd quarter, 77:65.
Pari NN tried to get back into the game, but Hunter answered Karpenkov‘s two free throws with a 3-pointer, and then Lokomotiv caught fire: a steal by Ishchenko and two points by Johnson, a steal by Johnson and 3 points by Ishchenko... After Hunter‘s basket, everything became clear in the 35th minute, 91:69. For the rest of the game, Lokomotiv played freely and brightly: I. Popov scored beautifully, Ishchenko dunked relentlessly, and Zakhar Vedishchev‘s shot allowed us to reach 100 points in a game for the 5th time this season. Fans Vova and Max, who had been with the team for the entire trip, looked very pleased.
Lokomotiv now faces a 3-game homestand: hosting UNICS on Sunday, February 8th; hosting Mega Belgrade on the 11th (an intraseason cup game); and hosting the league leaders, CSKA, on the 22th.
Come support us! Go, Loko!