Zenit lost to Lokomotiv Kuban in Game 3 of the series
The blue-whites started with a 0:5 deficit, but quickly turned things in their favor: shots from Karasev, Hunter, and Frazier allowed the Zenit to take the lead, and continued accurate attacks from Sergey and Trent even let the team pull ahead in the score. As a result, by the end of the first ten minutes, Zenit led by a 9-point margin.
In the second quarter, Loko tried to close the gap and even succeeded in doing so, but two consecutive three-pointers from Karasev pushed the Krasnodar team back to a respectable distance and forced Seculic to call a timeout with the visitors leading by 11 points. Towards the end of the quarter, Heurtel started scoring points, but overall, Lokomotiv played better during these minutes and went into halftime with a 7-point deficit.
However, the hosts started the second half better, with a 12:5 run, tying the score in just four minutes. Xavi Pascual immediately requested a timeout, but Loko had already gained confidence and pushed forward. Coming off the bench, Shcherbenev scored 6 points in a row, Yelatontsev hit several free throws, and Akoon-Purcell made a buzzer-beater almost from the center of the court... And so, going into the final quarter, Zenit was down by 4 points.
The fourth quarter started with both teams exchanging three-pointers — Zakharov's long-range hit was answered by Shcherbenev, who was then symmetrically answered by Heurtel, who did it... three times! Loko's coaching staff requested a timeout, after which everything changed — Anderson and Martyuk's hits put the hosts ahead, and Uzinsky's three-pointer two minutes before the end made the gap 5 points. It was possible to come back, but Heurtel missed the last long-range shot — 87:90, we lost the third game.
The next game of the series will take place in Krasnodar on Saturday, June 1, and will start at 19:00 Beijing time.
