2017-18QuarterfinalsGame 1
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 79
Herbalife Gran Canaria 74
March 06, 2018 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 BASKET HALL

Lokomotiv rallies past Gran Canaria, takes 1-0 lead

In a thriller than went down to the wire, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals by edging Herbalife Gran Canaria 79-74 at home in Game 1 on Tuesday. Gran Canaria hosts Game 2 on Friday and is now in a do-or-die situation. Dmitry Kulagin led the winners with 20 points, 7 of them in the final 3 minutes. Mardy Collins added 17, Brian Qvale 12 and Joe Ragland 10 for Lokomotiv. Xavi Rabaseda and Nikola Radicevic paced Gran Canaria with 11 points apiece and Gal Mekel added 10 for the guests. Both teams were without their top scorers, Ryan Broekhoff of Lokomotiv and Marcus Eriksson of Gran Canaria, due to respective injuries that will keep them out of the series. Early three-pointers by Rabaseda, Mekel and Radicevic gave Gran Canaria a 5-17 lead. Lokomotiv would get within 24-27 after 10 minutes but Pablo Aguilar and Mekel made 8 unanswered points as Gran Canaria regained a 39-47 halftime margin. Qvale capped an 8-1 Lokomotiv run with a layup at 59-59 late in the third quarter. Triples by Aguilar, Nicolas Brussino and Albert Oliver sustained a 65-70 Gran Canaria lead with under 4 minutes left, but Collins and Kulagin started an 8-0 run that Ragland finished with a triple for Lokomotiv's first lead, 73-70. A dunk by Kulagin and a jumper by Collins kept Lokomotiv ahead, 77-74, with 11.9 seconds left and on its way to a 17th win in as many games in this EuroCup season.

Rabaseda and Mekel each struck from downtown to get Gran Canaria going. Radicevic added a reverse layup and Ondrej Balvin dunked in transition to make Lokomotiv call timeout at 2-10. An unstoppable Radicevic followed a layup-plus-free throw with a triple to make it a double-digit game, 5-17. Ragland rescued Lokomotiv with a three-point play and a driving layup but Eulis Baez and D.J. Seeley restored a 10-21 Gran Canaria lead. Kulagin and Qvale stepped up for Lokomotiv and Chris Babb struck from downtown at 22-27. Free throws by Collins fixed the score at 24-27 after 10 minutes. Frank Elegar scored twice around the basket early in the second quarter but a layup by Luke Fischer and a three-point play by Seeley gave Gran Canaria fresh air at 28-32. Evgeny Baburin buried a three-pointer before Aguilar and Mekel fueled an 0-8 run that gave the guests a 31-40 lead. Collins hit a triple and Kulagin added an off-balance basket but free throws by Balvin and a bomb by Rabaseda restored a double-digit that Qvale cut to 39-47 at halftime.

Babb downed a three-pointer and Qvale added a jump hook to give Lokomotiv hope at 44-49 after the break. Mekel sank a floater but Babb and Collins got the hosts even closer, 49-52. Rabaseda followed free throws with his third triple but he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, Kulagin and Collins made free throws and a layup by Qvale tied it at 59-59. A three-pointer by Aguilar restored a 59-62 Gran Canaria edge after 30 minutes. A jumper by Nico Brussino and a bomb from downtown by Albert Oliver boosted the guests' lead to 61-67 with 8 minutes left. Brussino bettered Kulagin's layup with a three-pointer but Ragland and Collins made it a three-point game, 67-70, with under 3 minutes remaining. Kulagin downed 3 of 4 free throws and a three-pointer by Ragland gave Loko its first lead, 73-70, with 1:30 left. Even though Radicevic answered from downtown on Gran Canaria's next shot, Kulagin dunked to take back the lead. A free throw by Oliver kept Gran Canaria within 75-74 with 34.9 seconds left, but Collins downed a critical jumper, Oliver missed from beyond the arc and foul shots by Kulagin allowed Lokomotiv to celebrate the win.

Gran Canaria hosts Game 2 on Friday, March 9 at 21:00 CET.

Joe Ragland - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (photo Lokomotiv) - EC17
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: KOROMILAS, ELIAS; PETEK, SASO; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 5013
By Quarter1234
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar24152020
Herbalife Gran Canaria27201512
End of Quarter1234
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar24395979
Herbalife Gran Canaria27476274
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COLLINS, MARDY 30:28 17 3/10 1/2 8/8 1 1 2 3 2 3   2 3 5 13
3 RAGLAND, JOE 23:38 10 3/5 1/3 1/1   2 2 3 1       2 4 14
4 BABURIN, EVGENY 3:58 3   1/1             1         2
7 LACEY, TREVOR 7:38           2 2 1   2     4   -3
11 LEVSHIN, DENIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 ILNITSKIY, STANISLAV 15:25 1 0/1 0/1 1/2 2   2 2         2 1 1
13 KHVOSTOV, DMITRY 15:28   0/1 0/2     1 1 4   1     2 1  
15 ELEGAR, FRANK 11:52 7 3/5   1/2 1 5 6     2     4 2 6
19 BABB, CHRIS 30:43 9 0/1 3/7     2 2 2 2   1   4   7
22 KULAGIN, DMITRY 30:19 20 4/7 1/3 9/10   3 3   2 3 1   2 9 24
41 QVALE, BRIAN 30:31 12 4/4   4/4 1 5 6 1 1       4 4 20
47 NELYUBOV, IVAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           4 2 6               6
Totals 200:00 79 17/34 7/19 24/27 9 23 32 16 8 12 2 2 27 26 90
        50% 36.8% 88.9%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, SASA
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
Herbalife Gran Canaria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 OLIVER, ALBERT 17:24 4 0/2 1/7 1/2   2 2 2 1 1   1 4 1 -5
9 MEKEL, GAL 22:03 10 2/6 2/3   1 2 3 4   2     4 4 10
10 BRUSSINO, NICOLAS 14:27 5 1/1 1/3     1 1   1           5
11 SEELEY, DENNIS 23:29 8 3/6 0/2 2/2   2 2 1   3   1 1 2 3
12 BALVIN, ONDREJ 20:16 7 1/2   5/6 4 2 6   1       4 7 15
13 BAEZ, EULIS 14:01 6 1/1 0/1 4/6 2   2 3         4 3 7
14 PASECNIKS, ANZEJS 14:26 4 0/3   4/6         1 1     3 4  
22 RABASEDA, XAVIER 20:38 11   3/4 2/2   1 1 1 2       3 2 13
31 RADICEVIC, NIKOLA 21:59 11 2/3 2/2 1/1   1 1 1   5     2 3 8
34 AGUILAR, PABLO 27:25 6 0/3 2/7     6 6 1   1 2   2   4
40 FISCHER, LUKE 3:52 2 1/1                         2
Team           5 4 9               9
Totals 200:00 74 11/28 11/29 19/25 12 21 33 13 6 13 2 2 27 26 71
        39.3% 37.9% 76%
Head coach: CASIMIRO, LUIS

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, SASA
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar

"First of all, it was a very important game for us. We had lost a couple of our last [domestic] games. So it was not easy for us. We had big pressure, and I feel that our fans and everybody were waiting for this win. So I am happy that we could give them this win, but we are already thinking about the next game. We'll have to work. We made a lot of mistakes today, but I am happy that we came back with our basketball and team spirit, fighting until the end. So I can say that this is a step forward for us."

"As you see, we played very good defense, much harder and much tougher. We stopped their three-point shots and more or less, I am satisfied with the way we play defensively and the character we showed to win this game."

CASIMIRO, LUIS
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"We played very good on offense and rebounding for a lot of time in the first half. The second half was different for us on offense. Lokomotiv played physical, strong defense. They have the best defense in the EuroCup and they made it difficult for us to score."

Players

RABASEDA, XAVIER
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"It was a very difficult game, very tense and with a high level of basketball. I think that we've been great for 39 minutes, but some turnovers that ended in several fastbreaks for them changed the game. We have to remember that we missed our best shooter and also Oriol Pauli, two key players for us that helped us to reach the quarterfinals. But we have another 40 minutes to fight on Friday. We will try to equalize the playoff at home. I'm sure that playing like we did today we will have options to return to Russia or even to reach the semifinals."
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