Lokomotiv clearly learned from their previous defeat and started Game 2 strong: two steals and two baskets from Vsevolod Ishchenko and Mike Moore came fast. In the 3rd minute, Zenit’s coach had to call a timeout–after a steal by Vince Hunter and a dunk by Patrick Miller, the scoreboard lit up 8:2 in our favor. Moore soon increased the Krasnodar team’s lead by another 2 points. Lokomotiv’s mid-range and short-range shots were flawless during this stretch (8 of 8 in the 1st quarter), but the opposite was true with three-pointers (our players missed their first 7 attempts), so Zenit at one point got within 3-point range. Yet, 2+1 from Ishchenko, a successful solo by Jeremiah Martin and–finally–a long-range shot (again from Martin) allowed us to go into the first break with a sound advantage–20:13.
The 2nd quarter had barely begun when Makar Konovalov scored with a foul to make the lead double-digit, but then Zenit stepped up on defense, scored a couple of times, after which the score remained at 23:17 until the 15th minute. Then things slowly picked up: both teams began scoring consistently, mostly with exactly 2 points (except for Alexander Shcherbenev‘s 0+1 from the free throw line). Miller executed a great drive, Hunter nailed a dunk. Shortly before the break, Georgy Zhbanov sank a three-pointer, not the first of this series, one that could easily be described as “crazy,” cutting the gap to 2. At that distance, the teams ended the 1st half, 35:33 in our favor.
After the game resumed, defense began to dominate offense even more for both teams. Every basket was a struggle. Kirill Temirov and Moore each hit a three-pointer for us, and Konovalov scored fine on a drive to the hoop. For Zenit, Andrei Martyuk went wild, consistently scoring from the paint. The lead changed 6 times in the 3rd quarter, but Lokomotiv still held the advantage at 51:50 by the final intermission.
The 4th quarter had barely begun when Konovalov scored from long range, and soon after, Temirov converted a free throw called for a technical foul on Vladislav Yemchenko–a “+5”! Dmitry Uzinsky made 2 points, and at 55:52, the score remained still until the 35th minute, when Zhbanov sinked from under the basket. Then came a brief surge in scoring: Miller, Martyuk, Hunter, and André Roberson each scored 2 points–59:58 with 3 minutes remaining.
Ищенко пошёл в проход – промах, у петербуржцев в ответной атаке было стразу три броска, но цели не достиг ни один. (К слову, в этот момент преимущество соперника по подборам стало двузначным.) Миллер решил попасть со средней – тоже мимо, а вот Трент Фрейзер свою изоляцию реализовал, выведя «Зенит» вперёд. Ответить своим проходом решил Мартин – не забил. Хантер сфолил на Фрейзере при трёхочковом броске – разыгрывающий «Зенита» забил 2 штрафных из 3, 59:62 при 58 секундах до сирены.
Дальний бросок Мура – опять мимо, но Хантер и Миллер соорудили перехват, и Ален Хаджибегович броском сверху свёл разницу к минимуму. Фол на Сергее Карасёве – тот свои штрафные забросил, 61:64 за 19 секунд до конца. Снова на дальний бросок вывели Мура, но мяч и в этот раз не зашёл в кольцо, но хотя бы в аут вышел от зенитовцев. Миллер вынес из-за лицевой на Хантера, и тот решил бросить из-за дуги сам. Но и эта попытка оказалась неточной, зафиксировав второе поражение «Локо» в бронзовой серии.
Ishchenko went for a drive and missed. The St. Petersburg team immediately attempted 3 shots in response, but none found the target. (By the way, at this point, the opponent’s rebounding lead had become double-digit.) Miller tried to shoot a mid-range shot and also missed, but Trent Frazier capitalized on his isolation play, putting Zenit ahead. Martin tried to respond with an iso of his own and missed. Hunter fouled Frazier on a 3-point attempt, and the Zenit point guard made 2 of 3 free throws, 59:62 with 58 seconds left.
Moore‘s long shot missed again, but Hunter and Miller made a steal, and Alen Hadzibegovic dunked to minimize the gap. Sergey Karasev was fouled, and he made his both free throws, 61:64 with 19 seconds left. Moore was sent out for another long shot, but this time the ball missed the basket, though at least it was out of bounds for us. Miller passed the ball from behind the line to Hunter, who decided to take a three-pointer himself. But this attempt also fell short, sealing Lokomotiv’s second defeat in the bronze medal series.
The teams now travel to Krasnodar, where they will play Game 3 on June 7 at 4:00 PM. A Lokomotiv victory will force a fourth match (June 9 at 8:00 PM).
We believe in the team!