VTB United League: Lokomotiv downs Samara

VTB United LeagueRound 7 of the VTB United League Regular Season saw two games take place on Saturday as Lokomotiv went big to defeat Krasnye Krylia Samara in an all-Russian clash. In the other game Finnish club Nilan Bisons Loimaa continued to struggle as they fell at home to Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd.

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. Krasnye Krylia Samara, 91-59
Lokomotiv brought its A Game to Basket Hall as the home team stomped all over Krasnye Krylia and swept the visiting team aside with some ShowTime Basketball. The Samara guests actually outrebounded the Krasnodar outfit 42 to 31, but failed to take advantage of their 22 offensive boards to snatch second chance opportunities. The consistent scoring of Lokomotiv proved telling through the four quarters as the home team simply looked too strong.

The writing was on the wall early on as Lokomotiv started the game as it meant to go on, seemingly on a points gathering foray into the Samara basket constantly. By the end of ten minutes Kuban carved a sizeable 25-12 lead and then used the second quarter to put Krasnye Krylia to the proverbial sword. Through Q2 the hosts streamed in 32 points while holding the visitors to 13 points, enough to put a 57-25 lead on the board at the long break. With a 32 lead after twenty minutes Lokomotiv could afford to ease off the gas and let Samara take a 17-20 winning period to make it 74-45 through three quarters. The home team went again in the fourth as Lokomotiv eased to victory in domineering fashion with a 17-14 winning run in the last 10 minutes.

Nikita Kurbanov was chief point getter for Lokomotiv as he managed 16 points. Following him were Maxim Grigoryev with 14 points and Anthony Randolph, Andrey Zubkov, and Alexey Zhukanenko with 11 points each.

Only two players notched double figures at the nets for Samara, with Sergey Toporov securing 12 points and Evgeny Fidiy with 11 points. Kervin Bristol put on a rebounding master class as he totalled 19 through the game, 10 boards in defence and 9 off the glass in offence.

Nilan Bisons Loimaa vs. Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd, 69-82
Nilan Bisons remain bottom of the VTB United League with just win after being easily defeated by Krasny Oktyabr at home.

The Russian team laid down a first quarter marker by taking the attacking impetuous and hitting the Bisons with a 16-25 run to have a nine point cushion at the first split. The hosts rallied in the second quarter to slash the gap, but a 19-16 winning stanza still meant it was Volgograd’s to lose through halftime (35-41). Suddenly the Loimaa hosts gathered the momentum from the second quarter and exploded in the third with a 23-16 flurry to take the lead at the last interval, the scoreboard reading 58-57. Any hope of home celebrations were quickly dashed in the fourth quarter as the visitors found a hot streak to win the final act 11-25, ensuring the final minutes were comfortable.

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