By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lokomotiv Kuban made the 2/2 in Group E of the EuroCup Top 16 by beating Murcia 70 – 60, mostly thanks to a particularly dominant third quarter.
The team from Krasnodar was down 27 – 29 at halftime, but greatly outplayed its opponents 24 – 8 after the return from the locker rooms to enter the final period at a 51 – 37 pole position.
Murcia didn’t give up and trimmed enough of that deficit to make it a two-possession game, 65 – 60 with 1:07 to go. But Kevin Jones, Loko’s top player in the match with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, showed great hustle on both ends to finish the job for his team.
The Spaniards fell to 1-1 in Group E, since they lost their rhythm after a great first quarter, where they had taken a 16 – 20 lead, with Jose Antelo (16 points) hitting four three-pointers in six minutes.
But he and his teammates (Facu Campazzo 14 points, 4 assists, 3/13 f.g.) went empty of scoring options apart from perimeter shooting, paying the price with a poor production of 17 points combined in the second and third period, where Lokomotiv built a solid lead.