Before the game, Vsevolod Ishchenko received the VTB United League award for the best young player of the season. This is the 5th year in a row that Lokomotiv players have received this award!
Vince Hunter scored Lokomotiv’s first two points and immediately blocked Melo Trimble‘s shot. Samson Ruzhentsev led CSKA in the opening minutes, scoring 5 points in a row, and the visitors soon led 10:2, but Patrick Miller scored 2+1, drew a foul on Anton Astapkovich, and Hunter dunked to make it 7:12. This gave the Kuban defense confidence: two successful stops, and after a dunk by Miller, the gap was reduced to 2 points, so the visitors called a timeout. The game evened out, and in the 7th minute, Jeremiah Martin tied the game, and on the next possession, his acrobatic throw gave Lokomotiv the lead, 18:17. The lead changed a couple more times, and the quarter ended in a tie–Martin responded to Casper Ware’s 3-pointer with a mid-range shot, 22:22.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, two consecutive blocks occurred: Nikita Kurbanov nailed Alen Hadzibegovic‘s layup, Antonius Cleveland ran on the counterattack–but was covered by Ishchenko, who somehow managed to return! CSKA started pouring in from afar again, while Lokomotiv didn’t even try (Mike Moore‘s first 3-point attempt came just 13 minutes into the game–alas, it missed). Thanks to Martin‘s efforts, Krasnodar kept things close for a while. But after a couple of missed shots, the opponent was ahead by 7 points, 27:34. Martin got Loko back into the game: successful defense against Cleveland, accurate free throws; Hunter supported him–2 tough points, a block against Kurbanov. But Ware was also strong during this stretch: his 3-pointer sent Lokomotiv into a timeout, 31:41.
The home team struggled to get rebounds–sometimes missing just n inch to secure the ball, which the Army Men eventually picked up, and Ware continued to score rom any distance, with or without resistance (he got 21 points in the first 20 minutes). Makar Konovalov finally hit our first 3-pointer of the day, but Melo Trimble responded with 2+1. Miller blocked Ivan Ukhov‘s shot on the final attack of the quarter, but the score of 35:54 still looked depressing.
Lokomotiv urgently needed to start showing who the comeback kings are in our league. Still, the opening minutes of the 3d quarter were even more discouraging: a 3-pointer by Ware over the guard’s hands, an offensive foul by Martin, a technical by Tomislav Tomović, and the margin raised to 23 points. With no field goals, the home team began to seek for fouls. Anton Kvitkovskikh and Ishchenko made up 5 points from the free throw line, but Ukhov and Semyon Antonov brought it all back–40:63.
Technical and unsportsmanlike fouls began to rain down–but this struggle slowed CSKA’s attack, and their lead began to slowly melt away: Miller hit a 3-pointer, Hadzibegovic ran on a fast break, and Antonov‘s 3-pointer was answered with 2-pointers by Martin and Miller. After a long shot by Temirov, an offensive foul by Livio Jean-Charles, and a dunk by Hadzibegovic, the margin became a viable one–57:68. The opponent tried to pull away again, but Temirov, Hunter, and Ishchenko kept us quite close going into the final break, 63:75.
In the opening seconds of the 4th quarter, Lokomotiv picked up 2 fouls, one of which was a technical, and then Cleveland made a steal, setting up Astapkovich for the ифылуе, 63:78. The Kuban team launched a desperate attack, grabbing 3 offensive rebounds before Martin finally managed 2 points. But Trimble immediately hit a 3-pointer, and another one 20 seconds later, making it 65:84. Miller responded with a couple baskets of his own, each more difficult than the other, but both were 2-pointers. Perhaps if our players had been a little more accurate at hitting their free throws during this stretch, the comeback run might have had a chance to turn into something more serious. With the score 75:88, Ruzhentsev hit a 3-pointer, and a few seconds later, Ishchenko blocked a shot by Kurbanov, but the CSKA forward grabbed the rebound and still scored. In the 38th minute, Temirov and Hunter each left the game early, receiving a second technical foul, and the scoreboard showed a 19-point difference, which is how the match ended.
Game 4 is the day after tomorrow, May 20th at 8:00 PM. We’re waiting for you in the stands at Basket Hall! We believe in the team!