Good rebounding and second-chance points allowed Zenit to take a 10-point lead by the 5th minute (5:15), despite some bursts of Lokomotiv momentum, such as a great pass from Kirill Temirov to Alen Hadzibegovic. After Mike Moore‘s three-pointer, things improved on offense, but not by much: Hadzibegovic and Vince Hunter‘s baskets kept us within 5-7 points for a while, but then the home team hit two three-pointers, and the final two minutes of the first quarter were chaotic with no points scored–14:23 in Zenit’s favor (and 5:13 in rebounds).
Hunter opened the 2nd period with a sweeping dunk, and his overall activity evened the game out, including on the rebounds. Moore‘s three-pointer in the 14th minute made it 23:29, and after that, the game have flown at 6-8 points distance for some time. Lokomotiv struggled from the field during this stretch, but gotntheir gains with free throws. Then Patrick Miller finally hit his signature mid-range jumper, followed by another, and Anton Kvitkovskikh made a steal, followed by Hadzibegovic‘s basket, 35:38. Andrei Vorontsevich scored from afar (Zenit attacked from the perimeter with an accuracy of almost 60% in the 1st half), but Kvitkovskikh made free throws, Miller scored 2+1, and the teams went into the big break with a minimal difference in the score–40:41, the Petersburgers were still ahead.
As soon as play resumed, Hadzibegovic received the ball in the paint, deftly evaded Sergei Karasev, and gave Lokomotiv the lead for the 2nd time in the game (after a 1:0 in the 1st minute). André Roberson hit a three-pointer, and Hunter responded with 2+1 making it 45:44 in our favor. Zenit quickly regained a five-point lead, but Hadzibegovic sank a hook shot into the basket, and Jeremiah Martin made a steal and passed to Temirov for a dunk–again, the gap became minimal, 50:51.
A couple of our misses, and the opponent scored 6 points in a row. It seemed Miller had stopped Zenit’s run with a parabolic high reverse layup, but they went on a 6:0 run again (all from free throws), and after a three-pointer by Vladislav Yemchenko, it was “–13”, 53:66.
Lokomotiv, for the umpteenth time today, began to pull themselves out of a hole: Hunter smartly beat Ismaël Bako in the paint, and a few seconds later, he made a steal, and Makar Konovalov made it 57:66. It seemed Zenit’s next attack had been repelled, but Georgy Zhbanov scored a contested shot from about 8 meters right at the 24 seconds buzzer. Martin quickly scored 2 points in response; it seemed that the last attack of the quarter would belong to the hosts, but Konovalov caught Bako on an offensive foul, and Hunter scored another point from the free throw line–60:69.
The start of the 4th period could have been disconcerting for Lokomotiv fans: two consecutive turnovers, another difficult three-pointer by Zhbanov, a 17-point lead, and then Martin limping off to the sidelines. But the Krasnodar team had already taught us that such difficulties only make them play better: Temirov made 3 free throws, Martin returned to the court, scored 2 points, then blocked Vorontsevich‘s shot. Zhbanov made another crazy three-pointer, but Miller immediately responded with a basket of similar value. Zenit continued to finish every attack with a three-pointer, but from that point on, they stopped sinking them, so Martin scored 2 points, then 2 more, then 2 once again, and then Moore got connection from beyond the arc, making it 77:82 with 3.17 remaining.
Ivan Samoylenko entered the game greatly, repeatedly forcing Trent Frazier into poor decisions on our end. Zenit launched a long attack, and as the clock drew to a close, Zhbanov got the ball about 8 meters from the hoop, tried to make another difficult three-pointer—but stepped out of bounds! Miller went for a mid-range shot, but missed. Samoylenko cleverly exposed himself to an offensive foul, but Loko violated the 24 second rule.
About 2 minutes left to play. Lokomotiv’s defense forces Frazier to pass out of bounds, and Moore hits a three-pointer, 80:82!
Another shaky attack from Zenit, and now Vorontsevich loses the ball under pressure. Hunter fails to score a lay-up, but Moore makes a steal, Miller shoots from behind the arc–miss.
The clock is under half a minute. Frazier drags out the possession as long as possible–and also misses. Hunter grabs the rebound, with 6 seconds remaining, Moore gets the ball at the arc, shoots for the win–no good. Temirov grabs the rebound, manages to shoot from an awkward position–but, alas, one more miss. And a moment later, the buzzer rings, confirming Zenit’s victory in the first game of the series.
The teams will play again in St. Petersburg on June 3rd. The start is also at 7:30 PM. As a reminder, the series for third place is best-of-five.
Go, Loko! We believe in the team!