CSKA Moscow wins Gomelsky Cup

CSKA Moscow made it four straight when they defeated Lokomotiv Kuban on Sunday to keep the Gomelsky Cup in Moscow. CSKA has won the Cup each year since 2010. Behind 18 points from tournament MVP Sonny Weems, CSKA defeated Kuban 76:65 in Moscow.

Participating in this years event were host club CSKA Moscow, Panathiniakos, Lokomotiv Kuban, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In the preliminary round, CSKA Moscow defeated Panathinaikos 72:49, and Kuban beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 71:61.

The third place game was held prior to the title contest, with Panathinaikos defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv, 80:74.

It was highly important for us to win the Cup before such tough season. Preseason period was pretty hard, we got a long way to go. We will try to get better to reach the level we need. I didn’t think about the personal award, I’ll be happy when CSKA gets Euroleague and VTB league titles.
–Sonny Weems, CSKA Moscow

The clubs opened the championship game with a close contest as CSKA took a two-point lead with an 18:16 score in the opening 10. In the second quarter the Army Men put up five on Kuban, outscoring them 18:13 in the quarter, while building a 36:29 advantage at halftime.

The third frame saw Lokomotiv chip away two points off their deficit, with a 23:21 score in the quarter to send the clubs into the final 10 with CSKA up 57:52.

CSKA was able to hold on down the stretch and ended the contest shooting 15 of 19 (78%) from the charity stripe, compared to only 3 of 5 (60%) for Kuban. Another telling stat was in the turnover category, where CSKA only made five mistakes, compared to 12 for Lokomotiv. Kuban was superior beyond the arc during the contest, knocking down 8 of 17 (47%), compared to CSKA’s 5 of 18 (27%).

Weems led CSKA with 18 points, Nenad Krstic added 15 points, and Kyle Hines dropped in 14. Sergey Bykov and Richard Hendrix were game-high for Kuban with 22 points each.