CFBB still perfect after fending off Lokomotiv

U18 CFBB Paris remained perfect at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Kaunas by knocking off newcomer U18 Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 82-75 in Group A. Timothe Crusol was CFBB’s leading scorer with 20 points to go with 10 assists and 3 steals in helping the team move to 2-0. Juhann Begarin added 17 points, 3 rebounds and 6 steals and Essome Miyem contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds. Lokomotiv dropped to 0-2 in the group despite Gleb Bednyakov scoring 14 points, Daniil Sereda hitting for 11 and Vladimir Markovich picking up 10 points and 6 assists. Lokomotiv committed 25 turnovers in the game.

Leo Billon and Crusol both knocked down three-pointers and Miyem scored 4 points as CFBB rushed ahead 17-5. The lead was 21-11 after 10 minutes. Lokomotiv cut the gap to 25-18 early in the second quarter but Begarin took over and helped CFBB increase the margin to 39-27. And three-pointers from Rudy Demahis Ballou and Miyem and a Maxime Carene three-point play had the French side up 51-32 at intermission. Lokomotiv worked its way closer and was able to trim the deficit to 58-47 on a Bednyakov score. Demahis Ballou and Victor Diallo connected on three-pointers at the other end to push the lead to 64-47. Kirill Korobko and Markovich both nailed three-pointers in a 0-9 run and CFBB’s cushion was down to 66-58 after 30 minutes. Viktor Titov’s basket made it 68-62 but CFBB responded with a 14-7 spurt to go ahead 82-69. Lokomotiv tried one more push with 6 straight points to cut the gap down to 82-75 with just more than a minute left. But Lokomotiv could not score again and CFBB secured the win.