Hamburg stuns Lokomotiv for first win at home

Hamburg Towers collected its first-ever 7DAYS EuroCup victory at Edel-optics.de Arena by dominating the second half to defeat Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 100-82 on Wednesday night. The result improved Hamburg’s record to 2-5 while dropping Lokomotiv to 5-2 and knocking it out of a share of first place. After trailing 41-50 at halftime, Hamburg dominated the third quarter 29-10, highlighted by a 16-0 run highlighted by Jaylon Brown’s 2 three-pointers. Lokomotiv had no answer after that. Jaylon Brown finished with a career-high 21 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting to lead the winners. Caleb Homesley added 20 points and 5 assists and Ray McCallum and Maik Kotsar scored 18 points apiece. Errick McCollum paced Lokomotiv with 27 points, Johnathan Motley paired 19 points with 9 rebounds and Stanton Kidd scored 10 in defeat.

Eddy Edigin took a steal in for a layup to give Hamburg the early lead, but he missed on the next two possessions while Motley and McCollum got the visitors going. It was 2-10 by the time the hosts recovered with Jaylon Brown free throws. Motley scored twice on the offensive glass to establish a double-digit lead, 4-14, which prompted a Hamburg timeout. Jaylon Brown stepped up with a three-pointer and McCallum delivered a jumper to produce some momentum. Robin Christen’s triple drew Hamburg within 6, but it was 16-25 after Stanton Kidd netted Lokomotiv’s first three. McCallum made a three and a fifty bucket in the paint to get Hamburg within 23-28 after 10 minutes.

McCallum scored the first two baskets of the second quarter and then fed Justus Hollatz for a jumper that put Hamburg ahead 29-28. Motley scored twice and Stanislav Ilnitskiy drilled a three-pointer on a 1-9 response as Lokomotiv surged ahead. After a Hamburg timeout, Jaylon Brown and Homesley connected on back-to-back three-pointers to rally the hosts to 36-37. Kotsar’s steal and layup evened things at 41-41. Kidd converted a three-point play and Greg Whittington scored the final 3 points in a 0-9 run for a 41-50 Lokomotiv lead at the break.

Homesley came out more aggressive in the second half, but he could not get his shots to fall. However, Jaylon Brown heated up and Kotsar’s alley-oop, followed by a Seth Hinrichs slam, made it 53-55 and resulted in a Lokomotiv timeout. Homesley tied it and then drilled a deep three to give the hosts the lead. Jaylon Brown added another long three that prompted another Lokomotiv timeout. Kotsar capped an 18-0 Hamburg run with a baby hook over Motley for a 64-55 lead. McCollum helped change things for Lokomotiv with a score at one end and a block at the other. Whittington added a three-point play, which also sent Edigin to the bench with 5 fouls. Kotsar shined with a steal that led to a Hollatz slam before he drew a charge from Whittington. McCallum’s free throws made it 70-60 through 30 minutes.

Maximilian Di Leo scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter as the Lokomotiv attack shut down. Kostar threw down a monster slam on Motley to make it 77-62. McCollum sought to lead the Lokomotiv comeback with a layup and a jumper. However, Homesley’s triple extended the margin to 16. McCollum continued to attack the basket and score, though Hamburg often had an answer. The Lokomotiv guard's 7th free throw of the quarter made it 84-75 with 4 minutes remaining. Homesley responded with a three from the corner and Kotsar dunked again to keep the hosts comfortably in control.

Homesley, Kotsar take charge in second half

Hamburg Towers outscored Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 59-32 in the second half on Wednesday for an impressive come-from-behind win. No two players had a bigger say in the team’s second-half turnaround than Caleb Homesley and Maik Kotsar. The former was held to 3 points and made 2 turnovers in the first half, during which he compiled a PIR of negative-1. Homesley came out aggressive for the third quarter with 4 shots in the first few minutes, but he only made 1 of them. From that point on, Homesley missed only 3 more shots as he scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half. His PIR was 18 in the third and fourth quarters. Kotsar, who had 4 points, 2 rebounds and a PIR of 0 at the break, produced 14 points, 5 rebounds and a PIR of 24 in the second half.

McCollum never stops scoring

Even as the rest of the Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar attack floundered in the second half on Wednesday, Errick McCollum continued to battle and try to lead an improbable comeback. He scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough against the red-hot Hamburg Towers attack. McCollum made 10 of 12 two-pointers and all 7 of his free throws in addition to 4 assists and 3 steals to compile a performance index rating of 31. Those numbers helped him climb from fifth to third place on the competition’s all-time charts for performance index rating. McCollum now has a PIR of 1,495 in 79 career EuroCup games. He moved past Mire Chatman (1,464) and Sammy Mejia (1,488).

By the numbers: Three-pointers and turnovers tell the story

Two major stats told the story of Hamburg Towers' victory over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar on Wednesday. The hosts made 10 more three-pointers than the visitors! Hamburg shot 13 for 27 from downtown (48.1%), while Lokomotiv slumped to 3-of-20 shooting (15%). Complicating matters for Lokomotiv was the fact that it committed a season-high 19 turnovers, which were 6 more than the Towers. Hamburg also dished 20 assists to Lokomotiv’s 12. Between its poor outside shooting and many turnovers, Lokomotiv was in a tough spot.