Today Astana plays the final match of the first stage in the VTB United League regular season at home.
The opponent is Lokomotiv-Kuban from Krasnodar. The club was founded in 1946 in Mineralnye Vody and, for many years, was based there, playing in the leagues of the USSR and Russia. In 2000, Loko became the first-ever winner of the Russian Basketball Cup, beating Spartak from St. Petersburg in the final.
In 2003, the team moved to the Rostov region and, six years later — to Krasnodar. The Railwaymen have played in the VTB United League since the 2011/12 season, where they took fourth place.
Loko's main achievement in the tournament was silver in 2012/13 when the team lost to CSKA Moscow in the final series. In the same season, Krasnodar won the Eurocup, the second most important basketball club tournament in Europe.
Now the team of Aleksandar Sekulich secured its participation in the playoffs, getting into the top six of the standings, even if it took the last place among other rivals. Lokomotiv Kuban played 21 matches, of which they won 11 and lost 10.
Speaking of players, Akoon-Purcell DeVaughn, former Denver and Galatasaray forward, made his debut for the team in January. His 18.5 points-per-game average is the best in the league so far. However, it is worth considering that the American has only played in two matches.
It should be worth mentioning ex-Astana player Jaylen Barford (16.3 points per game), Darral Willis (7.1 rebounds per game), and Alexander Shcherbenev (5.3 assists per game).
Astana and Lokomotiv-Kuban met 16 times, 11 of which were won by the opponent. Valery Likhodey, who played for the team from Krasnodar in 2012-2014, is a player at the Kazakh club now. The previous match between today's rivals in the current season ended with a score of 73:53 in favor of Loko.
«The game with Loko is the final one for us at the first stage of the regular season. We will try to please our fans not only with interesting basketball but also with a victory. Despite the difficult schedule of games, we must be fully focused and ready for this!» - Oleg Kiselev, head coach of Astana, said before the game.
The match will be held at the Saryarka cycle track and will start at 20:00. Tickets are on sale at Zakazbiletov.kz.
Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the Tournaments section.
Astana played the final match of the first stage in the VTB United League regular season.
The home meeting with Lokomotiv-Kuban ended with a score of 67:98 in favor of the club from Krasnodar.
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (17 points, 5 rebounds) and former Astana player Jaylen Barford (17 points, 5 rebounds) became the heroes of the match against the opponent. The Kazakh team also has Markell Johnson (22 points) and Kwame Vaughn (17 points).
«For Lokomotiv-Kuban, the previous games in Astana were not easy; there were defeats. Therefore, we came here to show the highest quality basketball. We did it and played one of the best games this season. This is a significant victory for our talented youth, and it is a great pleasure for me to see my players, especially the younger ones, demonstrate their progress. It is also important for me that we played as a team throughout the match, which became an important component of the victory.» — said Alexander Sekulich, head coach of the guests, after the game.
The next match, Astana, will hold on January 28, and the opponent will be Enisey. Tickets are already on sale at Zakazbiletov.kz.
Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the Tournaments section.
