Lokomotiv races past Andorra, snaps road losing streak

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar shrugged off missing two of its leading players in defeating MoraBanc Andorra 76-86 in Group A to snap its three-game losing streak. Lokomotiv, which was without big men Johnathan Motley and Gregg Whittington, raced away early by 16 points and the advantage was 19 points before Andorra pulled within three just after the break. The guests increased the margin to 13 points in the third quarter and it was never close in the final 10 minutes. Errick McCollum was unstoppable with 30 points and 6 assists while Alan Williams picked up 17 points and 14 rebounds and Darius Thompson chipped in 17 points in helping Lokomotiv move to 7-3. Andorra dropped to 5-4 - with its first loss at home this season - despite Codi Miller-McIntyre tallying 20 points and 8 assists. Amine Noua did score 12 points and Moussa Diagne had 4 points and 10 rebounds.

Williams got the guests on the board first with a jump hook with Conor Morgan hitting a three-pointer for Andorra. Lokomotiv scored the next five points and then McCollum tallied six points in a 1-10 surge to pull ahead 6-17. After Noua slowed the run, McCollum poured in the next seven points for 14 points already and an 8-24 advantage. Andorra did manage the final five points of the quarter to trail 13-24 after 10 minutes.

Lokomotiv opened the second quarter with the first four points and it was 18-30 when McCollum continued his scoring onslaught with a three-pointer and Zakhar Vedishchev made it 20-37. Miller-McIntyre countered with a tough layup and three-pointer to try to get Andorra closer at 27-39. Lokomotiv answered with the next seven points to move ahead 27-46. Andorra came up with back-to-back three-pointers from Miller-McIntyre and Clevin Hannah and the deficit was down to 37-48. Thompson punched back with a triple but the hosts continued to surge and were down just 45-51 at the break.

Hannah’s three-pointer to start the second half got the gap down to three points. McCollum came up with a four-point play at the other end with Williams chipping in six points and McCollum drained another triple and the cushion was back to double figures 57-68. Vedishchev followed with a triple as well and Lokomotiv held a 61-72 lead after 30 minutes.

Neither team scored in first 2 minutes of the final frame until Williams’ basket. McCollum followed with a free throw after a second technical foul on Andorra Ibon Navarro - getting him ejected from the game - and the margin was 61-79 before the hosts finally scored with under 6 minutes left. Andorra did score the next six points to pull within 12 points - 67-79 - with 4 minutes remaining. Thompson scored after a timeout and Andorra just could not get enough stops to challenge the rest of the way.

McCollum shines again

Errick McCollum has been playing otherworldly of late and he continued that with two of the team’s leaders down. McCollum poured in 30 points with 4 three-pointers and 8-of-9 free throws to go along with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block for a performance index rating of 36. McCollum has scored at least 23 points in his last five games and twice hit at least 30. And he has made 35-of-41 free throws in the last three games.

Williams steps up with Motley out

Lokomotiv was missing one of the best big men in Europe with Johnathan Motley and Alan Williams stepped up in his stead. He collected a monster double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 29. The 28-year-old center had totalled 12 points and 6 rebounds in his last three games combined. It was the second time this season that Williams had a double-double, tallying 12 points and 11 rebounds against Turk Telekom Ankara in Round 5.

No success on two-pointers for Andorra

Andorra’s main issue was 2-point shooting as the hosts made just 19-of-42 for 45.2% - not to mention just 27.3% on three-pointers. Lokomotiv was outstanding on two-pointers, connecting on 57.9%. Andorra grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to 11 for Lokomotiv but both teams scored 14 second-chance points. Lokomotiv also made 21-of-30 free throws compared to just 11-of-18 for Andorra from the foul line. The hosts also committed only 8 turnovers but that too could not help them get the win.