Phillip game-winner lifts Tofas at Lokomotiv
Tofas Bursa came back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit
to grab a 69-72 road victory over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Tarik Phillip. Tofas erased an 11-point Lokomotiv lead behind Phillip, who scored a team-high 15 points, while Matt Lojeski tallied 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for Tofas, which improved to 3-2 in Group B. Muhsin Yasar had 11 points, Berk Ugurlu 10 and Devin Williams chipped in 8 points and 12 rebounds in the victory, Tofas’s first on the road. Lokomotiv, which led by 14 points in the waning seconds of the third quarter, dropped to 2-3 with its first home defeat of the season. Johnny O’Bryant paced Lokomotiv with 18 points and 5 rebounds while Sam Dekker tallied 14 points and 7 rebounds, Will Cummings had 11 points, 5 assists and 4 steals and Alan Williams added 6 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks.
Dragan Apic scored Lokomotiv’s first 4 points before Tofas finally got on the scoreboard on Lojeski’s layup after more than 3 minutes of action. That score started a 2-12 surge and included 5 Ugurlu points as the visitors went up 6-12. Dekker hit a second basket to help Lokomotiv pull within 12-14 after 10 minutes. Phillip opened the second quarter for a 12-16 advantage for Tofas but Lokomotiv charged ahead with 7 straight points to go ahead 19-16. Yasar responded with 5 points as Tofas reclaimed the lead 21-23 only to see Stanislav Ilnitskiy nail a triple to start a 7-0 run for a 28-23 advantage. Berkan Durmaz and Yasar tried to keep Tofas close and the home side led 32-28 at the break.
Threes from Lojeski and Ugurlu knotted the game 34-34 early in the second half, but O’Bryant nailed back-to-back triples to start a 14-1 Lokomotiv charge to take control 48-35. Devin Williams managed two scores for Tofas, but Lokomotiv pushed ahead 57-43. Sammy Mejia knocked down a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer for a 57-46 lead after 30 minutes. Tofas started the fourth quarter with the first 9 points, including a three from Lojeski to make it a 2-point game. Apic finally got Lokomotiv on the board after more than 3 minutes, but a Phillip three-point play finished a 2-15 run for a 59-61 lead. O’Bryant tied it up 61-61 and it was a battle the rest of the way. O’Bryant hit a big three-pointer to make it 68-65 and split foul shots to make it 69-67. Durmaz only hit one free throw with 41 seconds left and Ugurlu split two with 31 seconds remaining to even it at 69-69. Dmitry Kulagin missed free throws with 11 seconds left, leaving the door open for Phillip’s heroics, dribbling down the clock and silencing the crowd with a long three-pointer over Alan Williams for the road victory.
First loss
Tofas won its first game against Lokomotiv after losing its two previous match-ups in the 2018-19 Regular Season. Lokomotiv won easily 95-72 at home but needed overtime for a 105-99 victory in Bursa last season.
Pivotal performer
Tarik Phillip came off the bench and was outstanding - even before hitting the game-winner. He led the way with 15 points to go with 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn.
Telling numbers
Lokomotiv connected on just 8 of 13 free throws (61.5 percent) and allowed Tofas to grab 12 offensive rebounds while turning it over 17 times.
Next games
Lokomotiv stays at home for its next game and hopes to get some revenge on November 5 against Rytas Vilnius, which won in Lithuania in Round 1. Tofas, for its part, will remain on the road and hope to win its second straight away game at Limoges CSP on November 6.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com