«Lokomotiv-Kuban» Krasnodar, Russia vs. «Bisons» Loimaa, Finland

Lokomotiv-Kuban defeated Bisons at home on Monday, 95-55. The Finns kept it close in the 1st quarter, but Loko's defense was too much over the final 30 minutes, giving the Railwaymen a comfortable 40-point win. Krasnodar also exacts revenge for the loss to Bisons earlier in the season.

Recap
Lokomotiv has yet to win in Finland, losing twice to Bisons on their home court. Last year, Kuban took revenge at home in convincing fashion and hoped to do so again this season.

Lokomotiv did not get off to a great start. Bisons led late in the opening period, scoring 22 points on Kuban's elite defense. Despite trailing 23-22 at the break, the Finns looked very competitive.

The turning point came midway through the 2nd quarter. Kuban newcomer Matt Janning came off the bench to provide a big spark, knocking down a '3' and getting the ball to teammates for open looks. Anthony Randolph also made a difference on offense, while Chris Singleton sparked the defense. Lokomotiv won the quarter by a score of 28-14 and held a 15-point lead at halftime.

Lokomotiv continued to put up big numbers in the second half and put on a show for the fans in the process. Two straight alley-oops to Andrei Zubkov put the home team on top by 20, forcing Greg Gibson to call a timeout. But Randolph and co. refused to slow down. Up 28 points after the 3rd quarter, the Railwaymen had no trouble securing an 8th-straight win.

Star Player
Anthony Randolph. The high-flying forward didn't start the game extremely well, but once he got in rhythm, Bisons were helpless to stop him. The American big man dunked, knocked down 3's, distributed the ball, forced turnovers and finished with a well-rounded 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Stat of the Game
19 - number of points given up by Krasnodar in the second half.

Quotes
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Georgios Bartzokas:
- I'm happy that we managed to play a lot of guys today. Every player took his job responsibly and made an important contribution to the end result. Now it's important to carry that over to our upcoming games.

Bisons head coach Greg Gibson:
- Congratulations to Lokomotiv-Kuban. That's a great team and they played really well today. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to perform well today because of roster problems. We're missing four players right now that helped us beat Lokomotiv-Kuban at home. But the good news is that they will be back in 7-10 days. We can't wait for the final stretch of the season in the league. We think we have a good shot.

Snapshot