Basketball-Lokomotiv rout Red Star to reach Euroleague playoffs

BELGRADE, March 24 (Reuters) - Lokomotiv Krasnodar advanced to the Euroleague's knockout stages for the first time with two games to spare after the Russian side's American trio steered them to an 86-62 win over Red Star Belgrade on Thursday. Lokomotiv joined Fenerbahce Istanbul and CSKA Moscow in the last eight, with three more sides able to go through on Friday if other results go their way. Forwards Anthony Randolph and Chris Singleton scored 17 points each while playmaker Malcolm Delaney added 12 as Lokomotiv delighted a noisy home crowd. "I think today we proved that we can bounce back from adversity," Delaney told www.euroleague.net. "We didn't have a good last two weeks but this was probably our best defensive game all season." Lokomotiv's Greek coach Georgios Bartzokas added: "To get to the best eight teams in Europe is a big accomplishment. We stayed with the plan and took what we deserved." Chasing their own maiden quarter-final berth, Red Star took a 6-2 lead but were undone by 22 turnovers and poor shooting, having netted only four of 18 attempts from three-point range. The Serbian side and the competition's former six-time winners Panathinaikos, who edged Darussafaka Istanbul 86-84 away, can still advance on Friday if Unicaja Malaga beat Anadolu Efes Istanbul. In the other section, Germany's Brose Baskets Bamberg kept alive their own hopes of progressing with an impressive 91-83 home defeat of CSKA. The result also denied Laboral Kutxa Vitoria an early passage into the last eight after they beat fellow Spaniards Barcelona 75-71 on Wednesday. Vitoria will progress nonetheless if holders Real Madrid beat Olympiakos Piraeus in Friday's stand-out fixture. Real, who are chasing a record-extending 10th title in Europe's premier club competition, will have their own fate to worry about as defeat would spell a major setback in their bid to avoid an early exit. The Top 16, which is the competition's second group stage, features two pools of eight. The top four from each section qualify for the best-of-five quarter-final playoffs and the winners advance to the May 13-15 Final Four in Berlin. (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Toby Davis)