«Lokomotiv-Kuban» Krasnodar, Russia vs. UNICS Kazan, Russia

UNICS Kazan defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar on the road, 58-56. The matchup between two of the league's top defensive squads delivered as Kazan eeked out a dramatic 58-56 win on the road, led by 20 points from the league's top scorer, Keith Langford.

Intro
Entering the game, Lokomotiv was 5-4 and 7th in the standings, six days removed from a heart-breaking double-overtime loss in Khimki. Playing in front of the home crowd, the Railwaymen hoped to score a big win and avoid dropping to .500. Kazan, meanwhile, had a chance to lock down 3rd place and take revenge on Lokomotiv for the early exit in last year's playoffs.

UNICS won the 1st quarter by a score of 12-9. Both teams struggled to get the ball in the basket, shooting a terrible percentage from the field in the first half. Kazan went on to win the 2nd quarter by an identical score of 12-9 to lead 24-18 at halftime. Through the first 20 minutes, Lokomotiv shot 18% and turned the ball over 13 times, while Kazan was 33% from the field with 12 turnovers.

UNICS maintained the defensive intensity in the second half, holding Lokomotiv to 15 points in the 3rd quarter to take a 44-33 advantage.

The Railwaymen started to close the gap in the 4th quarter. Lokomotiv forward Andrey Zubkov was huge down the stretch. He drilled a '3' to open the 4th quarter and added a pair of jumpers midway through the period to tie the game at 51-51.

Turning Point
Krasnodar, however, never took the lead. After Zubkov's jumper with 3:41 to play, Lokomotiv failed to score again from the field. Keith Langford and Quino Colom hit a pair of clutch jumpers and Vadim Panin knocked down two crucial free throws in the final seconds to maintain a 3-point lead. After Malcolm Delaney cut the deficit to two with four seconds left, UNICS grabbed the rebound on his second attempt to seal a win.

Star Player
Keith Langford. Impenetrable defense and Langford's offense: Kazan has a winning formula. The American guard hit several big shots down the stretch, finishing with a game-high 20 points.

Stat of the Game
114 - number of combined points scored by Lokomotiv and UNICS.

Quotes
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Georgios Bartzokas:
- I want to apologize to the fans: not for the result, but for how we played. It's been a long time since I've seen a team miss that many shots in the paint, travel with the ball and miss free throws in the first half. Yes, it was our third tough game in a week and we had a difficult return trip from Izmir on Friday, but no one has any right to use that as an excuse. That's life in European basketball and if we want to win every game, we need to change our approach. We knew that UNICS had a good, talented team, but, to be honest, they didn't play that well today. We were simply awful. And I'm very sad that the fans who came to the game wasted their Sunday.

UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
- Lokomotiv is a leader in the Euroleague. We understood that if we played up-tempo, we'd have almost no chance. Our goal was to control the tempo and not give Loko's leaders open looks. We held strong most of the game. In terms of intensity, the game was similar to a championship, and we couldn't relax at any point. We are getting better from game to game, but there's more to work on. For example, as soon as eased off the pressure in the 4th quarter, our opponent started hitting open shots.

Snapshot