«Khimki» Khimki, Russia vs. «Lokomotiv-Kuban» Krasnodar, Russia

Khimki Moscow Region defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar in double overtime, 101-88. The home team trailed by as many as nine points in the 4th quarter, but was able to force overtime as Tyrese Rice knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds of regulation. After the first overtime ended in a tie, Khimki outscored Lokomotiv 19-6 in the second extra period to grab the win and improve to 7-3.

Intro
Khimki (6-3) and Lokomotiv-Kuban (5-3) met last season in the VTB United League playoff semifinals, with Moscow Region advancing in a hard-fought best-of-five series. Entering today's game, Khimki was without big men Paul Davis and Ruslan Pateev, while Lokomotiv was missing Anthony Randolph as well as head coach Georgios Bartzokas, who was absent for personal reasons.

The home team got off to a good start, limiting Lokomotiv to 1-12 shooting from the field in the 1st quarter. Khimki enjoyed a 22-12 lead through 10 minutes and added to it in the 2nd quarter, getting three 3-pointers from Egor Vyaltsev. With five minutes left in the half, Lokomotiv trailed 37-21.

The Railwaymen did not back down. Center Kyrylo Fesenko got going in the paint and Lokomotiv started to heat up from outside, finishing the half on a 21-4 run to lead by one, 42-41.

Coming out of halftime, Lokomotiv's defense picked up where it left off in the 2nd quarter, holding Khimki to 15 points in the 3rd quarter. The Railwaymen dominated the glass and controlled the tempo. Even seven points from Alexey Shved couldn't stop the visitors from taking a five-point lead entering the final quarter.

After a Sergey Bykov '3' made it 69-60 with seven and a half minutes to play, Khimki finally responded. Lokomotiv didn't score another field goal for nearly seven minutes, allowing the home team to take a one-point lead. A wild final minute ended in a 74-74 tie as Loko's Malcolm Delaney missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer.

The first overtime also did not decide a winner. Both teams struggled from the field, combining for 16 points in five minutes to send the game to double-OT, 82-82.

Turning Point
Moscow Region took over in the second extra period. Shved and James Augustine combined to score Khimki's first nine points, putting the home team on top, 91-85. A '3' from Sergey Monia made it a nine-point lead, 94-85, with just over two minutes to play, and Lokomotiv never threatened from there. With the win, Khimki improves to 7-3, while Kuban drops to 5-4.

Star Player
Alexey Shved. Shved played his best game yet since returning to Russia from the NBA, erupting for 32 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in the win!

Stat of the Game
19 - number of points scored by Khimki in the second overtime. In comparison, Moscow Region only managed to score 15 and 17 points, respectively, in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

Quotes
Khimki head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis:
- I'm very happy that we won, because we've come up short in several other big games. We had one bad stretch, but after two overtimes, we outlasted our opponent, even though injuries left us with only one center, Augustine. He has to play 35 minutes, while others are playing as much as 40. I want to thank the guys for their effort and toughness, because it's not an easy time for us from a psychological standpoint. Games like this give us a lot of confidence.

Lokomotiv-Kuban assistant head coach Christos Pappas:
- Congratulations to both teams on an interesting game. Congratulations to the winners. To be honest, we started poorly, both on offense and defense. We were not aggressive at all. Everything changed completely around the 15-minute mark. I think we would have been a little luckier, if Draper had not got injured. We were missing a second point guard in the final minutes, while Khimki played very well in the second overtime. Still, it was a great game and I'm sure the fans enjoyed it.

Stats