Intro
Lokomotiv-Kuban came into the game boasting a perfect record in 2015: 7 wins in the league and 6 in the Eurocup. Khimki had lost once each in the league and Eurocup.

Krasnodar traveled to Moscow Region hoping to take revenge for its loss at home to Khimki earlier this season. Khimki, on the other hand, looked to tighten its grip on 1st place and maintain a perfect record at home.

Khimki and Lokomotiv leaders Tyrese Rice and Anthony Randolph started the game off strong. The Khimki point guard did a good job running the offense, while Randolph had an impact on each facet of the game. Thanks to 3-pointers from Malcolm Delaney and Kruno Simon, Loko pulled ahead midway through the period. Sergey Monia and Tyler Honeycutt answered in kind, cutting the deficit to 23-20 after 10 minutes.

Rice and Randolph got some rest in the 2nd quarter and Paul Davis and Derrick Brown stepped up in their absence. The Khimki center was dominant in the paint, while Brown did a good job getting to the free-throw line by driving hard to the basket. Unfortunately for Lokomotiv, he only made half of his attempts, allowing Khimki to gradually grab the lead. Brown finished the half with a pretty dunk, but the visitors still trailed, 41-39.

Monia and Rice each knocked down 3-pointers early in the 3rd quarter, while Loko responded with a pair of baskets from Randolph. The home team tried hard to add to its advantage during the period, but Kuban always had an answer. Khimki's lead was unchanged, 59-57, entering the final period.

Petteri Koponen knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to start the 4th quarter, helping Khimki go up by double digits. Trailing 67-57, Lokomotiv went on a 16-6 run over the next four minutes, led by nine points from Brown and seven from Randolph. That tied the game up at 73-apiece with 3:08 to play.

Turning Point
But Khimki got the final say, turning to its closer, Tyrese Rice, to finish off the contest. The point guard seems to get better under pressure and he scored Khimki's final seven points, helping the home team to a seven-point victory. Khimki ends Lokomotiv's perfect run in 2015 to remain atop the league standings.

Star of the Game
Tyrese Rice. He led his team with 19 points and more than a third of his offensive output came in the decisive final minutes.

Stat of the Game
39-15 — Khimki's bench outscored Lokomotiv's by 24.

Quotes
Khimki head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis:
— First of all, I'm very happy that we won because this game, like the game with CSKA, was a battle between powerhouse clubs. No one's going to underestimate the opponent in a game like this and everything is decided by skill. Lokomotiv beat CSKA twice and hasn't lost once in the Eurocup. It's a very strong team individually and it knows how to win. This win helped us regain 1st place in the standings, which is very important. I'd like to thank the guys for their effort. When you play your hardest, success follows you. Pateev couldn't help us today. He's a little sick. I hope we can get him ready for the next game.

Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sergei Bazarevich:
— I need to congratulate Khimki on the win. They played very well. This is a bit of a strange feeling. We hadn't lost for two months. Maybe we weren't quite fresh enough for this type of game. We tied the score at the end, but we made the wrong decisions after that. We weren't very good on offense and our opponent punished us by hitting tough shots. Our free-throw shooting also let us down. As for perimeter shooting...we can win other ways, but an extra 3-pointer wouldn't have hurt.

Top Performers
Khimki: Tyrese Rice — 19 points, five assists; Paul Davis — 16 points; Petteri Koponen — 16 points; Sergey Monia — 11 points, six rebounds; James Augustine — eight points, 11 rebounds.

Lokomotiv-Kuban: Anthony Randolph — 23 points, eight rebounds; Derrick Brown — 19 points, six rebounds; Malcolm Delaney — 12 points, five assists; Nikita Kurbanov — seven points, five rebounds.