«Lokomotiv-Kuban» Krasnodar, Russia vs. CSKA Moscow, Russia

CSKA Moscow defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban on the road, 77-65. The Army Men pulled away in the first half and held on for victory thanks to terrific defense and outstanding offense from Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo.

Intro
Monday's showdown wrapped up the action in Week Seven and featured two of the league's biggest rivals, not to mention two of the top contenders for the title.

Krasnodar's rowdy Basket Hall set the tone early, ramping up the intensity from the opening tip. Both teams were extremely aggressive on defense, forcing turnovers and bad shots.

Lokomotiv took an early lead on several mid-range jumpers from Victor Claver. CSKA answered with Milos Teodosic, who evened the score at 17-17 after 10 minutes.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Teodosic and Aaron Jackson, plus a layup from Viacheslav Kravtsov gave the visitors an eight-point advantage to open the 2nd quarter. CSKA continued to pull away, limiting the home team to four points in the first eight minutes of the period to grab a 35-21 lead. Despite a strong finish to the half, Lokomotiv trailed by 11 entering the break, 39-28.

The home team upped the intensity after halftime, outscoring CSKA by six in the 3rd quarter. Victor Claver and Dontaye Draper scored six apiece in the period and the visitors shot a measly 5-14 from the field to allow Lokomotiv back into the game.

De Colo banged his knee late in the 3rd quarter and was forced to leave the game. Coupled with an injury to forward Demetris Nichols in the first half, the Army Men appeared to be in trouble.

But De Colo returned to start the final period, assisting on a pair of 3-pointers that kept Lokomotiv at arm's length. After the Army Men surged in front by 10, 64-54, Sergey Bykov and Malcolm Delaney combined to scored seven straight and cut the deficit to three, 64-61, with 5:55 to play.

Turning Point
In search of offense, CSKA got it from Teodosic. The Serbian guard drilled a '3', then set Aaron Jackson up for a jumper that put the visitors back on top by 10. Lokomotiv never really threatened after that, allowing CSKA to come away with a 77-65 victory, the Army Men's 5th of the season.

Star of the Game
Milos Teodosic. During halftime, CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis confirmed that Teodosic was playing injured. He noted, however, that he didn't plan to limit Teodosic's minutes after his terrific first half. He clearly made the right decision: Teodosic finished with 22 points, four rebounds and five assists.

Stat of the Game
40 - number of points scored by CSKA's backcourt (Teodosic - 22 and De Colo - 18). The two guards contributed more than half of the Army Men's points. Aaron Jackson was also terrific, putting up 14 points, six rebounds and five assists to cap a dominant night for the CSKA guards.

Quotes
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Georgios Bartsokas:
- We needed to play better defense against De Colo, Teodosic and Jackson, especially against their 3-point shooting. The three of them combined for 64 points and 14 assists to deliver the win. We weren't decisive on defense or offense at any position. Maybe the players were frustrated by how well CSKA was playing. We have a big question now: how to play three tough games in a week. We need to find a way, but in the future the return of Balashov and Randolph should provide us with needed depth.

CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
- I want to say that the fans at the arena and on TV saw a high-quality game. We were better today. We deserved to win from start to finish. We played against a good team with a system and an excellent roster and coach. Two straight wins on the road indicate that we are doing our job at practice. Additionally, I want to say that the team has demonstrated true military spirit this year. The guys want to play even when they're injured. We need to keep working in the same vein. It's a long season. Congratulations to the team on winning a game against a strong opponent that played tough. We also could feel the support of the CSKA fans. They really helped the team.

Stats

Snapshot