Lokomotiv KO’s Bamberg, soars into quarterfinals

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar continued its perfect Eurocup season with a 70-53 victory over Brose Baskets Bamebrg to win their two-game total-points eighthfinals series by 19 and clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. Lokomotiv will play the winner of the Unics Kazan/FoxTown Cantu series in the next stage. Derrick Brown scored 22 points and dished 5 assists to lead Lokomotiv, which used an 18-2 first-quarter run to take charge. After leading 40-27 at halftime, the hosts reeled off 10 unanswered points to start the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way. Alexey Zhukanenko added 10 points for the winners, who took a 78-80 victory in Game 1 in Germany. The win also extends Lokomotiv’s record winning-streak to 19 games. Janis Strelnieks scored 15 and Bradley Wanamaker 11 for Bamberg, which finished its season.

Bamberg took early leads on a Dalibor Bagaric dunk and an Elias Harris layup. However Lokomotiv soon took charge. A Zhukanenko triple gave the hosts their first lead in the game. Brown dunked in transition before Harris scored again for the visitors to make it 10-6. But Lokomotiv got back-to-back threes from Malcolm Delaney and Krunoslav Simon. Later Maxim Grigoryev connected from deep to cap an 18-2 run for a 21-6 Lokomotiv advantage. Baskets by Ryan Thompson and Trevor Mbakwe closed the gap to 23-10 after 10 minutes. Wanamaker heated up with 5 quick points for the visitors to start the second quarter. After Richard Hendrix’s tip-in, Bamberg drew even closer on a Strelnieks triple. Dawan Robinson split free throws to make it 25-20. Brown made free throws and a three-pointer in putting Lokomotiv up 8, though Strelnieks kept Bamberg close. Zhukanenko free throws and a layup by Brown boosted the difference to 36-24. Brown stretched the lead to 15 before Wanamaker ended the half with a layup that made it 40-27.

Lokomotiv came out for the second half eager to put the game away. Brown and Zhukanenko each hit threes and Eugeny Voronov scored twice in a 10-0 march for a 25-point lead in the series. Thompson’s three did little to bother the hosts, who made it 55-30 on a Grigoryev three-pointer. Strelnieks and Daniel Theis strung together a few points to close the gap to 60-41 through three quarters. Theis sank a three as the difference shrunk a bit more and Wanamaker made it 66-51 midway through the fourth quarter, but Lokomotiv did not let Bamberg get closer. Brown reached 20 points as the local fans had plenty of time to celebrate another big win.