2018-19Top 16Round 4
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 88
ratiopharm Ulm 76
January 23, 2019 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 BASKET HALL

Lokomotiv roars into quarterfinals

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar advanced to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals by downing ratiopharm Ulm 88-76 at home on Wednesday. Lokomotiv improved to 3-1 in Top 16 Group F and qualified to due to its 2-0 record against Ulm, which is third in the group at 1-3. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (4-0) also qualified with this result, while Ulm and Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt (0-4) are eliminated. Dorell Wright led the winners with 20 points and Vitaly Fridzon, Mateusz Ponitka and JaJuan Johnson each had 10 for Lokomotiv. Javonte Green paced Ulm with 16 points, Ryan Thompson added 13, Dwyane Evans 12 and Maximilian Ugrai 10 for the visitors. Lokomotiv led 26-24 after 10 minutes, extended its margin to 52-38 at halftime and then again to 71-54 at the end of the third quarter to cruise to a well-deserved win.

Johnson swished a jumper and consecutive layups by Vladimir Ivlev and Fridzon gave Lokomotiv a 6-2 lead. Bogdan Radosavljevic stepped up for Ulm and even though Fridzon struck from downtown, so did Thompson and Green for an 11-12 score. Dmitry Khvostov hit a triple and Ponitka added an acrobatic layup that caused the guests to call timeout at 16-12. Evans took over with a three-point play and Thompson added his second triple, but Wright and Stanislav Ilnitskiy kept Lokomotiv ahead, 23-22. Thompson hit a running jumper, but a free throw by Dragan Apic and a buzzer-beating jumper by Dmitry Kulagin restored a 26-24 Lokomotiv lead after 10 minutes. Ugrai followed free throws with a triple for a 28-29 Ulm lead early in the second quarter. Wright struck twice from downtown and Fridzon and Ponitka each added another one before Ulm stopped the game at 41-36. Fridzon hit free throws and three-pointers by Lacey, Johnson and Kulagin broke the game open at 52-38 at halftime. Per Guenther tried to ignite Ulm's comeback with a corner triple soon after the break. He got help from Gavin Schilling and Thompson to bring the guests a bit closer, 55-49. Kulagin rescued Lokomotiv with a triple and Johnson scored in penetration. Apic scored down low and three-pointers by Khvostov and Wright boosted the hosts' margin to 71-54 after 30 minutes. Nothing changed from that moment, as Wright stayed on fire from beyond the three-point line, allowing Lokomotiv to keep a safe lead until the final buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Dorell Wright shot 1 of 8 from downtown in Ulm, but bounced back in style, hitting 6 of 8 shots from beyond the arc on his way to 20 points. He added 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and 4 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 23 in just 22 minutes.

Game-changing moment

The game was tied at 31-31, but six different Lokomotiv players – Dorell Wright, Vitaly Fridzon, Mateusz Ponitka, JaJuan Johnson, Trevor Lacey and Dmitry Kulagin – struck from beyond the arc in the next five minutes, allowing Lokomotiv to grab a 52-38 halftime lead.

Stellar stat

Lokomotiv had 15 first-half assists, outrebounded Ulm 20-11 before the break and buried 10 of 14 three-point shots (71.4%). Rebounds, supreme ball circulation and accuracy from beyond the arc allowed Lokomotiv to control the game and eventually qualify for the quarterfinals.

Did you notice?

Lokomotiv hit 17 three-point shots in this game to set a new club record. The previous mark was 15 three-pointers against Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir on December 17, 2014, and against ALBA Berlin on December 5, 2017. Only Unicaja Malaga – with 18 against Fiat Turin on December 29, 2018 – has made more three-pointers in a EuroCup game this season.

Next game

Both teams return to 7DAYS EuroCup action on Wednesday. Ulm visits Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt before Lokomotiv visits ASVEL in a direct battle for first place in Group F.

Vitaly Fridzon - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (photo Lokomotiv) - EC18
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: PUKL,SASA; PAPAPETROU, PETROS; ISGUDER, SINAN
Attendance: 3226
By Quarter1234
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar26261917
ratiopharm Ulm24141622
End of Quarter1234
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar26527188
ratiopharm Ulm24385476
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WRIGHT, DORELL 21:59 20   6/9 2/3   3 3 3   1 1   3 4 23
5 LACEY, TREVOR 21:28 6 0/1 2/2     2 2 3 1       2   9
6 SHCHERBENEV, SASHA 1:07 1     1/2           1       1  
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 20:10 10 1/2 2/4 2/2   4 4 4   2     3 3 13
8 APIC, DRAGAN 10:46 7 3/3   1/2 1 1 2 1   2   1 1 1 6
10 IVLEV, VLADIMIR 17:33 2 1/4     5 1 6 2 1       2 2 8
11 ILNITSKIY, STANISLAV 10:06 5 1/1 1/1   1   1 1         2   5
13 KHVOSTOV, DMITRY 20:30 8 1/1 2/4   1 2 3 3 1 3     3 3 10
20 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 28:11 10 3/6 1/2 1/2   6 6 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 12
22 KULAGIN, DMITRY 20:05 9 1/4 2/4 1/2   1 1 5   1     3 1 6
25 JOHNSON, JAJUAN 28:05 10 3/8 1/1 1/1   3 3 1   2 1   3 3 8
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 88 14/30 17/27 9/14 9 26 35 24 5 15 3 2 24 21 104
        46.7% 63% 64.3%
Head coach: JOVANOVIC, VLADA
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
ratiopharm Ulm
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 EVANS, DWAYNE 24:44 12 2/3 1/1 5/7   5 5 1         3 5 17
5 GREEN, JAVONTE 25:46 16 4/8 2/3 2/2   1 1 2 2       1 2 17
6 GUENTHER, PER 18:19 3   1/5     1 1 3   2     3   -2
7 THOMPSON, RYAN 24:04 13 2/3 2/2 3/3   1 1   1 4     2 3 11
8 AKPINAR, ISMET 26:08 5 1/4 0/5 3/4       9 1     1 2 4 7
10 PHILIPPS, CHRISTOPH 18:47 2 1/2               1     3 2 -1
11 PAPE, TILL 10:52 2 0/1   2/2       2 1       1 2 5
12 RADOSAVLJEVIC, BOGDAN 16:41 6 2/5   2/2 1 2 3     4   1 3 2  
30 UGRAI, MAXIMILIAN 15:16 10 1/1 2/3 2/3 1 1 2           3 1 8
34 SCHILLING, GAVIN 19:23 7 2/5   3/6 2 6 8     1 2 1   3 12
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 76 15/32 8/19 22/29 5 18 23 17 5 12 2 3 21 24 76
        46.9% 42.1% 75.9%
Head coach: LEIBENATH, THORSTEN

Head Coaches

JOVANOVIC, VLADA
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"It is very difficult when you play two games against the same opponent like we did against Ulm. We played the first game against them the previous week and it was tough for us because we lost one more player from our rotation, Jamel [McLean]. Of course, we prepared this game with a smaller rotation. We added a new player to our roster, Dragan Apic, but I was a little bit afraid before the game because you know, it is very difficult. I expected Ulm to react after last week's loss and they did it. We started pretty lazy on defense in the first couple of minutes, not showing our aggressiveness. After that, in the second quarter, we were more aggressive on pick-and-roll defense and found easy shots on offense. This was a very important game because we controlled our defensive rebounds and in the second half, we started to run and made some easy shots, three-point shots."
LEIBENATH, THORSTEN
ratiopharm Ulm
"First of all, I would like to say congratulations to Coach Jovanovic and Lokomotiv Kuban. They deserved to win this game and also to be in the quarterfinals. I wish them the best of luck, not only in the EuroCup but also in the VTB League. Today, we knew it was going to be a difficult match for us, because we were missing four players and that was, overall, a little bit too much. At the same time, I feel like we did a good job fighting back for three quarters against a strong team. In the second quarter, we lost our defensive rhythm and gave up too many easy three-point shots and also too many second chances with offensive rebounds. For three quarters, we did a good job and managed to win the second half and without four important players, I think we did a decent job. Lokomotiv was the better team, without a doubt, especially from the three-point line. They were deadly today - a big compliment especially to Dorell Wright, who did an outstanding job not just hitting threes, but hitting highly contested three-point shots."

Players

WRIGHT, DORELL
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"I think we played hard. Like I said once again, German teams play physical, hard and never give up, so kudos to our guys for sticking with it and getting the win. We know this is a very important win for us, so I am happy for our guys. We are short-handed, but are finding the way to get wins."
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