Boulogne Metropolitans 92 had to wait until crunch time to secure a 95-92 victory over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar at Palais des Sports Marcel Cerdan on Wednesday night. Will Cummings had 7 points in a row when the game was 88-90 to boost the hosts to their third straight win
Cummings helps Metropolitans outlast Lokomotiv 95-92
Metropolitans improved to 7-5 to climb to fourth place in Group A. Lokomotiv snapped a two-game winning streak and fell to 8-4. Cummings flirted with a triple-double and finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Keith Hornsby also scored 20, Miralem Halilovic added 18 points, Tomer Ginat netted 13 and David Michineau 11. The visitors were led by Darius Thompson with 23 points on 8-of-8 in two-point shooting. Errick McCollum provided 17, Alan Williams 16, Andrei Martiuk 13 and Vladiskav Emchenko 10 in defeat.
Related Videos
Alan Williams got the visitors going with 7 points in a row, which Thompson followed with a three-pointer to build a 9-14 lead for Lokomotiv after 4 minutes. The hosts reacted quickly, as Cummings provided a triple and Halilovic scored inside to make it all square, 16-16. Both squads traded baskets for a while to keep it balanced until the visitors chained together a couple of threes that seemed to get them momentum. It was not the case, as Hornsby, Michineau and Halilovic exploited Lokomotiv turnovers to combine on a 7-0 run that closed the first quarter with the home team ahead 29-24.
Steeve Ho-You-Fat widened it to 31-24 right after the game resumed, but the visitors didn’t tremble. Thompson came to the rescue with 8 quick points in a 0-10 spark that brought his team back in charge. Metropolitans called for a timeout to stop the bleeding, but McCollum remained hot to extend the lead to 31-36. The hosts counterattacked from outside, as Hornsby, Cummings and Michineau took over to force another tie at 42-42. Lokomotiv replied through its youngsters to get a slim edge that Williams secured from the line, 46-49, at halftime.
Thompson led the way for the visitors after the intermission, first feeding Martiuk for a slam, then knocking down a couple of buckets to push his team to a 51-57 advantage. Lokomotiv did not retain the lead for long, though, as a 12-3 run capped by a basket-plus-foul by Ginat returned a 66-63 advantage to the home side. McCollum took over then, going for 6 points in a blink of an eye that helped Lokomotiv enter the last quarter again on top, 72-74.
Hornsby started hot after the break with a basket and a three to switch the lead to his team’s hands once again, 77-76. The visitors found an answer inside through Martiuk, but Hornsby remained in trance mode, as he showed up again and drilled a couple of long jumpers to make it 82-82 with 6 minutes remaining. With neither team able to take control, the game turned into a blow-by-blow battle that reached crunch-time all tied, 88-88. Sasha Shcherbenev banked a tough shot to get Lokomotiv ahead, but Cummings stepped up big and answered with a short jumper and then a long three-pointer for a 93-90 score with 17 seconds to go. Thompson tried to save the visitors from behind the arc on the next possession, but missed and Cummings sealed the outcome from the line.