Motley shines to keep Lokomotiv undefeated

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar remained undefeated in Group B by downing Boulogne Metropolitans 92 99-85 at Basket Hall on Wednesday. Lokomotiv improved to 3-0 in the standings while Metropolitans dropped to 1-2. Johnathan Motley led the winners with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Errick McCollum added 18 points while Darius Thompson and Andrei Martiuk each had 15 for Lokomotiv. Thompson added 11 assists for a double-double. Will Cummings led Metropolitans with 24 points, Vince Hunter posted 21 with 11 rebounds and Jordan McRae and Miralem Halilovic each had 12 points for the visitors. Thompson, Martiuk and Motley led Lokomotiv to its first double-digit lead, 29-18, late in the first quarter. Thompson, Motley and McCollum fueled a 12-0 run that boosted the advantage to 55-36. Cummings and Hunter got Metropolitans within 12 at halftime. They got help from Halilovic and Jordan McCrae to bring the visitors closer, 77-70, at the end of the third quarter. An unstoppable Motley kept pushing Lokomotiv and made sure the hosts finished off the important home victory.

Thompson banked in a close shot to get Lokomotiv going. Motley dunked and Stanton Kidd also scored in a 6-0 opening run. Hunter stepped up with a layup and Cummings struck from downtown, but Motley and McCollum kept the hosts ahead, 10-7. Martiuk took over with a three-point play and Motley followed a layup with a dunk, but Hunter and Cummings kept Metropolitans within 17-13. Thompson and Cummings traded triples before a red-hot Motley made it 23-16. Martiuk and Thompson sank back-to-back three-pointers to extend the margin to double digits, 29-18. Cummings and Hilalovic got the visitors closer, 29-22, after 10 minutes.

Lahaou Konate hit a jumper early in the second quarter, but Martiuk made a three-pointer and Ivan Paunic added back-to-back layups for a 36-24 Lokomotiv lead. Metropolitans found a go-to guy in Halilovic, who got help from Nobel Boungou-Colo and Cummings to bring the visitors a bit closer, 43-36. Martiuk and McCollum each made a jumper, Thompson added a tip-in and Motley struck from downtown in a 12-0 run that broke the game open, 55-36. McRae scored in penetration and then Cummings buried one from beyond the arc and fed Hunter for a dunk to bring Metropolitans within 55-43 at halftime.

Hunter scored in the paint soon after the break. Cummings struck from beyond the arc and Keith Hornsby added a fastbreak layup to give Metropolitans hope at 58-50. McRae improved on Kidd's jumper with a triple. McCollum took over with an acrobatic basket and Martiuk added a reverse layup, but Halilovic scored again and McRae sank back-to-back jumpers to make it 64-59. Motley banked in a close shot and followed Sasha Shcherbenev's three-pointer with a dunk for a 72-63 score. Hunter followed a dunk with a power layup and soon added a wild three-point play to keep the visitors in the hunt, 77-70, after 30 minutes.

Motley stepped up with a put-back layup early in the fourth quarter and fed Martius for a fast break slam. Thompson scored in penetration, prompting Metropolitans to stop the game at 83-70. Tomer Ginat downed a floater and Cummings added a layup, keeping the visitors within 84-74 with over 6 minutes left. Motley added another put-back basket and McCollum bettered Ginat's layup with a three-pointer for an 89-76 Lokomotiv cushion. Nothing changed in the final 4 minutes, as Lokomotiv cruised to a well-deserved home victory.

Motley leads Loko to big win

Johnathan Motley led Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar to a 99-85 home victory against Boulougne Metropolitans 92. Simply put, Motley had one of the best performances in a Lokomotiv jersey in 7DAYS EuroCup history. He finished the game with 30 points on 12-of-16 two-point shooting, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks for a PIR of 38. It was 1 shy of Lokomotiv's single-game PIR record, 39, which Motley shares with Derrick Brown. Motley became the fourth Lokomotiv player to reach the 30-point mark in EuroCup history after Brown (34), Dmitry Kulagin (32) and Nigel Williams-Goss (31).

By the numbers: Lokomotiv shoots well, shares the ball

Sensational shooting and a strong assist-to-turnover ratio allowed Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar to beat Boulogne Metropolitans 92 in Round 3 of the 7DAYS EuroCup. Lokomotiv made 28 of 44 two-pointers (63.6% 2FG) and was 12 of 26 from downtown (46.1% 3FG). The Russian powerhouse finished the game with 27 assists – 2 shy of the club's EuroCup record. It previously had 29 assists in a 78-97 road victory against Stelmet Zielona Gora on October 15, 2014. Lokomotiv only committed 12 turnovers; that's 2.25 assists per turnover, the club's best ratio since November 2020.

Cummings and the ex-effect

Will Cummings of Boulogne Metropolitans 92 returned to Basket Hall to play against his former team, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, and had a great performance. He scored 14 points in the first quarter, leading all scorers. At halftime. Cummings already had 19 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting, 4 rebounds and 7 assists for a PIR of 28. He finished the game with a career-high PIR of 34, getting 24 points on 5 of 7 bombs from downtown, 7 rebounds, a personal-best 9 assists and 3 fouls drawn. Despite his efforts, Cummings could not lead Metropolitans to a road victory in Krasnodar.