Lokomotiv wastes big lead, beats Cluj for 7th place

U18 Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar finished seventh at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade after beating U18 U-BT Cluj Napoca 67-71 for its first victory in the Serbian capital. Mikhail Vedishchev led the way with 18 points and Lev Kuzmenko scored 15 points, including a big jumper with 24 seconds left after Lokomotiv had wasted a 17-point lead. Cluj failed to get a win in its first appearance in the competition despite Dragos Lungu tallying 19 points and Modibo Diaby picking up 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 blocks and 10 fouls received.

After Lokomotiv scored the first three points, Alexandru Turdean and Stefan Grasu hit three-pointers in an 8-0 run to go up 8-3. Lokomotiv punched back with Artem Oreshnikov scoring five points in a 3-12 run to go ahead 11-15, and the score was 13-17 after 10 minutes. Darius Coste hit a triple to get Cluj within 18-19 but Vedishchev hit from deep and Nikita Evdokimov converted an and-one in a 0-10 run for a 18-29 advantage. And Lokomotiv closed the first half on a 2-13 surge to lead 27-42 at the break.

Vedishchev increased the margin to 17 points at the start of the second half and the lead was 35-49 before Vlad Marinau drained a triple to cut the deficit to 43-50. Iaroslav Niagu connected from deep at the other end and Lokomotiv was up 49-57 after 30 minutes. Diaby scored four points to bring the margin down to 56-57. Kuzmenko countered with seven points and Lokomotiv was back up 58-66. Vlad Nistor converted a three-point play at the other end and Lungu added a triple and two free throws to even the game 67-67 with 71 seconds left. After Niagu split two free throws, Cluj failed to score and Kuzmenko hit a jumper with 24 seconds remaining to make it 67-70. And Lungu missed a triple at the other end to decide the game for good.