Grigonis leads CSKA past Lokomotiv in SuperCup semifinal / News - Basketnews.com

Credit BasketNews/D.Repečka

CSKA Moscow continued their electric pre-season offense and suffocating defense in the defeat of Lokomotiv-Kuban Krasnodar 91-78 (22-6, 27-27, 25-24, 17-21). CSKA advanced to the VTB United League SuperCup-2021 final where they will face Zenit St Petersburg on Sunday.

CSKA never trailed in the game, outrebounding opponents 45-20, which led to 0 second-chance points for Lokomotiv. Newcomer Marius Grigonis led the Moscow team with 16 points.

With 2:55 left in the opening period, CSKA were already up 14-4, after 3-pointer by Ilfe Lundberg. CSKA continued to push both on offense and defense and finished the quarter up by 16 (22-6).

Lokomotiv appeared to wake up in the second quarter. Mostly behind Jeremy Motley's play, they managed to get within 8 points (38-30). But Lundberg answered with a 3-pointer and CSKA run away again, finishing the first half on a high note (49-33).

Alexey Shved started the third quarter with five straight points increasing CSKA lead to the largest of the game (54-33). Despite heroic attempts from Errick McCollum, who scored 13 points in the third quarter, the Army club kept its distance going into the final period (74-57).

The remaining question in the fourth quarter was whether CSKA will reach the 100-point mark. They managed to get close but settled for 91 to go along with a SuperCup final berth.

CSKA: Marius Grigonis 13 (3/4 3FG), Alexey Shved 14, Nikola Milutinov 12 (9 REB, 5 AST), Ilfe Lundberg 11, Ivan Ukhov 10.

Lokomotiv: Errick McCollum 20 (4/4 3FG),Johnathan Motley 18 (4 REB, 2 BLK), Darius Thompson 14.

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