Lokomotiv blasts Jerusalem in clash of former champs

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar won its second-straight home game by pounding Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 88-68 Lokomotiv improved to 3-4 and still has a chance at third place in Group D, while Jerusalem fell to 4-3 and can place second, third or fourth, depending on next week’s results. Both teams had previously secured their places in the top 16. Lokomotiv dominated the glass by outrebounding Jerusalem 35-19 while dishing 21 assists to the visitors’ 8. Kevin Jones made 11 of 14 shots for 22 points and former Jerusalem guard Matt Janning made 3 of 6 three-pointers en route to 20 points and 6 assists for the winners. Ian Vougioukas added 14 points and Ryan Broekhoff collected 12 rebounds. Curtis Jerrells scored 17, Amer’e Stoudemire tallied 16 points and 3 blocks and Tarence Kinsey added 13 points in defeat.

Vougioukas scored twice in an early 10-0 run that put Lokomotiv in control at 14-4. Evgeny Baburin and Andrey Zubkov buried back-to-back triples for a 20-6 lead before any player other than Stoudemire scored for the visitors. Jerrells split free throws to make it 20-13 after 10 minutes. The visitors continued their momentum and a Jerrells triple capped a 0-12 charge to bring Jerusalem within 2. Lokomotiv pushed the gap back to 9 behind Janning and led 42-35 at the break. Janning further boosted the Lokomotiv advantage to 11 at the start of the second half, but back-to-back triples by Jerrells and Jerome Dyson closed the gap to 48-45. But the hosts took charge with a 12-1 run in which Jones scored half the points. Janning nailed another three to give the hosts their biggest lead yet, 63-47. The third quarter finished with 66-52 on the scoreboard and Lokomotiv scored the first 4 points of the fourth quarter to all but ice the game. Jerusalem never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.