2015-16Final FourSEMIFINAL B
CSKA Moscow 88
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 81
May 13, 2016 CET: 18:00
Local time: 18:00 MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA

De Colo leads CSKA to championship game

Led by Euroleague MVP and top scorer Nando De Colo and his record 30 points, CSKA Moscow led from start to finish in downing Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 88-81 in the first semifinal at the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on Friday night at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin. CSKA returns to the championship game for the first time since 2012, and will face the winner of the other Friday semifinal between Fenerbahce Istanbul and Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz. De Colo scored 10 points in the first quarter to help CSKA pull right away, and 13 in the third-quarter as CSKA mostly kept the margin in double digits. De Colo’s 30 points bested Euroleague Basketball Legend and former CSKA star Ramunas Siskauskas’s record for points in a semifinal by 1; Siskauskas scored 29 also in Berlin in 2009. CSKA scored the first 9 points of the contest and built a 16-point margin in the second quarter. Lokomotiv cut it to 47-37 at halftime, but could not come closer than 6 until the final minute of the contest. An 18-8 run bridging the third and fourth quarters put CSKA up 78-62, but Dontaye Draper and Malcolm Delaney made the last final push for Lokomotiv. However, a key basket from Cory Higgins and free throws from Milos Teodosic sealed the deal. Vitaly Fridzon added 13 points for the winners, while Teodosic dished 6 assists. Delaney scored 26 to lead Lokomotiv, Draper added 17, Anthony Randolph 13 and Ryan Broekhoff 10. Randolph finished with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks and climbed into the record books with 8 offensive rebounds, the most ever in a Final Four game.

First quarter: De Colo shines early to get CSKA in front

It was only fitting that the De Colo scored a driving layup to open the scoring at the Final Four. Higgins nailed a triple, and Nikita Kurbanov a pair of free throws to make it 7-0 after only 82 seconds. CSKA kept Lokomotiv scoreless for more than three minutes, and a put-back from Kyle Hines opened a 9-point margin. Delaney drove for a layup high off the glass for Lokomotiv's first ever Final Four points, and after De Colo hit a jumper, Delaney bettered him with a three-pointer to cut it to 11-5. After a timeout, Higgins made 2 free throws, but Matt Janning beat the shot-clock buzzer with a jumper, followed by a step-back jumper from Draper to get Lokomotiv within 13-9. Now it was Lokomotiv’s top ranked defense that kept CSKA without a field goal for more than four minutes before Kurbanov scored on a fast break. After Anthony Randolph elevated above everybody to make a put-back, Victor Khryapa scored from close range for CSKA, and De Colo stole the ball under Lokomotiv’s basket and scored a layup to keep CSKA in front. In the final minute of the opening quarter, CSKA increased the margin with De Colo making a back-door cut for a layup and then a long jumper in the final second for a 23-12 cushion.

Second quarter: CSKA hits from downtown to stay ahead

Draper knocked down a triple, and followed it with a jumper with his toes on the three-point line, quickly getting Lokomotiv within 23-17. Now CSKA was the one without a basket for more than three minutes to start the quarter. Lokomotiv dominated the offensive glass and Delaney’s foul shots cut the deficit to 4. Coming out of a timeout, Hines had a put-back to end CSKA’s drought, and Vorontsevich nailed a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor to extend the lead to 28-19. After Delaney’s free throws, second-chance baskets from Hines and Vitaly Fridzon once again opened a double-digit margin. Hines assisted Fridzon on a corner triple, and after a Randolph jumper, Vorontsevich nailed a second-chance three-pointer to make it 38-23. Ryan Broekhoff hit a triple to stop CSKA’s run, and after Fridzon made an off-balance jumper-plus-foul, Janning hit another triple for Lokomotiv. But Victor Khryapa and Milos Teodosic hit back-to-back long range shot to open a 47-31 cushion with 70 second left in the half. However, Singleton made a runner, and Randolph scored 4 points, including a tip-in that made it 47-37 at halftime. It could have been more, but singleton ran out of time after a steal in the final seconds and his halfcourt heave missed.

Third quarter: De Colo pushes CSKA, but Lokomotiv stays in range

De Colo scored from close range to get the second half going before Vorontsevich blocked Claver and then knocked down a triple on the other end to make it 52-37. But Delaney’s consecutive three-pointers got the deficit back to single digits, and a pair of free throws from Claver cut it to 52-45. However, Teodosic buried a triple, then dished to De Colo, who nailed a three-point shot as shot-clock expired for a 13-poin edge. Randolph had a tip-in with his seventh offensive rebound, tying a Final Four single-game record, and Broekhoff added a put-back of his own. Broekhoff’s free throws got Lokomotiv within striking distance again, 58-51. De Colo made 2 free throws, but Delaney drew a shooting foul behind the 6.75-meter arc and made all 3 to get Lokomotiv within 60-54. De Colo made a short baseline jumper, and Fridzon drove for a layup. Randolph’s put-back dunk broke the Final Four record with his eighth offensive board. De Colo scored twice at the other end, but Draper banked in a long shot at the buzzer to make it 68-59 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: CSKA holds on

Fridzon and Broekhoff traded triples to start the quarter and De Colo’s foul shots and Khryapa’s jumper gave CSKA a 13-point cushion. A triple from De Colo made it 78:62 with seven minutes left to play. Neither team scored for more than two minutes before Draper’s triple and a runner cut the deficit to 13, but Khryapa drove for a two-handed slam. Delaney hit a triple to keep Lokomotiv’s hopes alive, and after a CSKA timeout, Draper knocked down a transition jumper to make it 82-72. Delaney made 3 from the foul line, making it a 7-point affair, and Lokomotiv had another possession, but Broekhoff missed a wide open triple. On the other end, Higgins took it all the way for a layup and an 84-75 edge. Chris Singleton finished at the rim, and Delaney’s foul shots got Lokomotiv within 84-79 with 35 seconds on the clock. But Teodosic made both free throws, and when Janning scored a layup on the other end there was only 13.6 seconds left on the clock. De Colo iced the win and set the scoring record with free throws as CSKA prevailed.

Nando De Colo - CSKA Moscow - Final Four Berlin 2016 - EB15
Friday, May 13, 2016
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; JAVOR, DAMIR
Attendance: 11261
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow23242120
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar12252222
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow23476888
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar12375981
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DE COLO, NANDO 32:48 30 9/14 2/4 6/6   3 3 4 1 3   1 4 7 30
4 TEODOSIC, MILOS 24:51 8 0/1 2/4 2/2   1 1 6 1 2     3 5 13
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 16:39 13 3/3 2/3 1/1 1   1   1 1     3 1 11
8 NICHOLS, DEMETRIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 JACKSON, AARON 5:07     0/2             1         -3
12 KOROBKOV, PAVEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 21:10 9 0/2 3/6   1 3 4     1 3 2 3 1 6
22 HIGGINS, CORY 22:02 7 1/2 1/2 2/2   2 2 1   1   1 4   2
30 KULAGIN, MIKHAIL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 20:37 9 3/3 1/1         3   2     2   8
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 20:09 4 1/1 0/1 2/2 2 5 7 1   1     3 4 11
42 HINES, KYLE 36:37 8 3/4   2/2 4 3 7 3   3     2 1 13
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 88 20/30 11/23 15/15 9 18 27 18 3 15 3 4 24 19 93
        66.7% 47.8% 100%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DELANEY, MALCOLM 34:07 26 1/7 4/9 12/12   3 3 4   1   1 4 8 24
1 SINGLETON, CHRIS 26:53 6 2/5 0/3 2/2 3 2 5 1 2   1 1 3 3 8
3 RANDOLPH, ANTHONY 29:30 13 5/11   3/4 8 3 11 1   2 2   1 6 23
4 DRAPER, DONTAYE 25:46 17 4/5 3/7     1 1 4   1 1   2 1 16
9 CLAVER, VICTOR 18:57 2 0/3 0/2 2/2 4 1 5 2       1 2 4 5
10 BYKOV, SERGEY 3:25                   2     1   -3
12 JANNING, MATT 22:58 7 2/3 1/4         1 1       1   4
15 KOLYUSHKIN, MAXIM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
17 BALASHOV, NIKITA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 VORONOV, EVGENY 3:05     0/1                       -1
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 1:48                   1     1   -2
45 BROEKHOFF, RYAN 33:31 10 1/2 2/5 2/2 4 1 5 1   4     4 2 6
Team           3 2 5     2         3
Totals 200:00 81 15/36 10/31 21/22 22 13 35 14 3 13 4 3 19 24 83
        41.7% 32.3% 95.5%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"I would like to congratulate my players, my team. They were decisive. We controlled almost everything in the game. We were the better team and deserved to win. We came up with a plan to take Lokomotiv out of their offensive game. We were good in our planning, and congratulations to the players for staying focused. You could tell in the players’ eyes that that game was ours. It’s a great accomplishment for the club, but we all know why we’re here, and we want to win the title. All the things about the past are all history. We’re living in the present and we are happy about it."
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"Congratulations to CSKA for the win. They had a very good game today. We had a great season. Eight months of hard trips, many great wins and tough games and some losses. We had to do something more if we wanted to beat a talented team like CSKA. It’s a feeling that is very complicated. Of course we are happy about the season, but we are sad about losing the game. It was basically our last game of the season for us. It’s not the end of Lokomotiv’s history. It’s just the end of a season. It’s been a long season for us. We just wanted to make a good conclusion. We are proud of our effort and of our team. The first quarter was very bad for us. We were slow in every action in the first quarter. For most of the guys it was their first experience of playing in a Final Four, and CSKA has a team with many guys with experience in many Final Fours. The first quarter was very bad. We competed very well in the last three quarters, but it was not enough."

Players

DE COLO, NANDO
CSKA Moscow
"We know Lokomotiv is a good team. They already played good basketball during the whole year and got good offensive players who can score easily if you let them play. It is what happened at the end, but we stayed together no matter what, which is what we said before the game. We knew they would score and get offensive rebounds, but we needed to keep playing our game and stay together. I had a good game because my team played well. We respected what we wanted to do on the court, played together and I tried to do what I did all season: be aggressive. We have to rest and try to get ready for the next game. You need to stay focused and no matter who we play in the final, we need to think about our team."
HIGGINS, CORY
CSKA Moscow
"We came here to get two [wins] and we got one. We have one win left and that is what we are thinking of right now. It was a hard-fought game and I knew they were going to fight until the end. I am glad we pulled it out. The past is the past and the only thing that matters is what we did today. We were more focused and I think that is what allowed us to win. We talked about our game plan not going as well as we wanted. A game can go up and down, but we have to stay the course the whole time and we felt good about our chances."
JACKSON, AARON
CSKA Moscow
"One more game, one more win - and one win to go! Hopefully we will get another win on Sunday and take care of glory. We had a great game plan, fought and made big shots in crucial moments, which helped us win the game. Usually you guys see teams come back against us, but we did a really good job of fighting back and winning the game. We have to stay on our feet and watch a lot of film in the next 48 hours. We have to keep doing what we have been doing for the whole season."
HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"It feels good to be back in the Euroleague final. We definitely had a good team defensive effort tonight and I am excited to have another chance to fight for another Euroleague championship. I think our physicality allowed us to win the game. We matched their physicality and aggressiveness, them being a tough game. Then we made plays; our guards made plays, Nando, Teo, Cory, Fridzon made big shots and then we got crucial stops when we needed it. That was most important. These 48 hours will be very important. It is an unusual scenario for most of us; we very rarely play within 48 hours. We have to rest, relax and focus on the game on Sunday."
TEODOSIC, MILOS
CSKA Moscow
"It was a tough game, although at some points the score did not show that. We had 10, 12, or 15 point leads, but we did not want to relax because Lokomotiv knew to cut the deficit in two or three possessions. It was a good game, especially defensively. We have been playing well offensively the entire season, but this time we played well defensively. We did great job of preparing the game and what we prepared, we did it on the court. In the past we had enough unluckiness and stupid losses, so I think we learned or lessons and those will not happen to us again. "
CLAVER, VICTOR
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"We had some mistakes in the beginning, on offense and defense, and with CSKA, when they feel the rhythm of the game it is hard to stop them. And that is what happened. We stayed in the game, fought them till the end, and we have to be proud about that."
JANNING, MATT
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"We started little poorly, and then you have to play a catch-up against a great offensive team. You know, when De Colo is playing like that, making every shot, it is tough to keep spending energy to come back. So I think we ran out of energy. We made our push, made it interesting, but the first quarter was where we really got buried."
RANDOLPH, ANTHONY
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"I think in the beginning it was just their experience. They have been here many times, and it took as a while to get in the game. I think we won every quarter besides the first quarter. But my hat is off to them. They executed their game plan well, they did a good job, and at the same time we have nothing to be ashamed off. We fought hard, and I think that everybody left everything out there on the floor. It was a part of our game plan, coach said the offensive rebounds are going to be there, and he wanted me attack every time. That was my job tonight, rather than so much to score. And I tried to execute it the best I can."
BROEKHOFF, RYAN
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"In the beginning it was maybe nerves, excitement, maybe little lack of experience. Coming here for the first time and getting caught up in everything. They really jumped on us and put pressure, and really dominated the first few minutes. From then on it was a catchup game, and we kept getting back, kept trying, kept getting close, but they made big plays, and smart plays."
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