Lokomotiv Kuban fought back from nine points down in the fourth quarter to beat Anadolu Efes 78-77 in a thrilling Euroleague Top 16, Group E clash in Krasnodar.
Malcolm Delaney led the fightback in the final quarter and Ryan Broekhoff buried the game-winning triple with 22.1 seconds left in a game where there were five lead changes and four ties in the final five minutes alone.
“We played against a very good team,” Delaney, who led Kuban with 25 points said. “They have a deep roster, you know our roster isn’t as deep, but we played tough for 40 minutes and in the fourth quarter we got a chance to get some stops and that kind of changed the momentum of the game, got the crowd into it. It was a tough game, but we’re a tough team, we stick together no matter what and that’s how we win games.”
Lokomotiv remain unbeaten at 2-0 in Group E, while Anadolu Efes drops to 1-1.
The other Group E ties saw a go-ahead three-pointer from James Feldeine gave Panathinaikos a 68-66 home win over Unicaja Malaga.
Veteran Dimitris Diamantidis led the Greens with 17 points and seven assists in a sublime display from an all-time great.
Jamar Smith paced Unicaja with a game-high 22 points as both team own 1-1 records after round two.
The third Group E game saw Fenerbahce comfortably see-off the challenge of Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade with Luigi Datome leading the winners with 21 points in an 88-65 win.
Bobby Dixon and Jan Vesely both posted double-doubles of 17 points, 11 assists and 15 points, 15 rebounds, respectively in the routine win.
The lone Group F game saw Brose Baskets ease past Zalgiris 96-63 in Bamberg.
The 33-point winning margin marked Brose Baskets biggest win this season as Janis Strelnieks paced the German side with 19 points in the win.
