«Krasny Oktyabr» Volgograd, Russia vs. «Kalev» Tallinn, Estonia

Kalev defeated Krasny Oktyabr on the road, 95-83. After a competitive 1st quarter, Tallinn took control from beyond the arc, cruising to an impressive win in Volgograd.

Recap
Coming off road defeats to Khimki and CSKA, Kalev hoped to return home with at least one win. The Estonians, however, faced no easy task in Volgograd. Krasny Oktyabr had won three straight and had a chance to move above .500 with another victory.

Early on, the momentum in the game shifted back and forth with both Kalev and Oktyabr leading by as much as five points in the opening period. The 1st quarter ended in a 21-21 tie after Kalev's Josh Boone knocked down a jumper on the final possession.

Gradually, however, the visitors began to take control. Volgograd had few options on offense, forced to rely on JaJuan Johnson and Dmitry Sokolov. Kalev, meanwhile, had nearly had five different players with seven or more points in the first half and led 46-39 at the break.

Despite a manageable deficit, Volgograd never threatened in the second half. A Gregor Arbet '3' made it a 12-point game midway through the 3rd quarter. While Johnson and Sokolov continued to produce for the home team, Kalev's 3-point shooting was too much. Gregor Arbet, Sten Sokk and Rolands Freimanis combined for six triples in the second half, helping the visitors maintain a comfortable double-digit advantage throughout the second half.

Kalev improves to 3-4, while Krasny Oktyabr drops to 4-5 with the defeat.

Star of the Game
Rolands Friemanis. The Baltic big man scored a game-high 27 points on 9-14 shooting and added eight rebounds.

Stat of the Game
13-25 - Kalev shot over 50% from beyond the arc to bury the home team.

Quotes
Krasny Oktyabr head coach Kyrylo Bolshakov:
- I'm happy with the effort our Russian players gave today: Zaitcev, Mateiunas and especially Sokolov, who played his best game of the season. The American players' attitude was not as good.

Kalev head coach Alar Varrak:
- The guys attacked really well today. They shot an excellent percentage. No question, this was one of our best games of the season. We took care of our primary objective on defense: stopping Cooper and Hamilton. I'm satisfied, even though we couldn't contain Johnson and Sokolov. Krasny Oktyabr has a lot of excellent players, and I can see a lot of potential in the team.

Stats