The game of the VTB United League on the home site of the Falcon Club “Tsmoki-Minsk” met with the Perm club “Parma-Parimatch”. Unfortunately, they lost their game 75:78 (21:24, 16:19, 20:15, 18:20).
Starting five
"Tsmoki-Minsk": Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Stefan Jankovic, Darol Hernandez-Zinenko.
"Parma-Parimatch": Adas Juskevi?ius, Marcel Ponitka, Nikolai Zhmako, Eigirdas Zukauskas, Artsiom Parakhouski
Game script.
Our team began the game with serious problems on the front line: Center Robert Upshaw was injured in practice, while his replacement, Vadim Stubeda, has not yet healed his knee. Given that “Parma-Parimatch” has three healthy centers, including Belarusian Artsiom Parakhouvski, it becomes clear, how difficult the “Dragons” had to fight for an advantage under the basket. Disciplined defense and accurate shooting from the perimeter proved an effective counterargument. In the opening quarter, “Tsmoki” managed to shoot effectively from beyond the arc, where Yauheni Beliankou, Uladzislau Bliznyuk, and Angelo Warner excelled. The defense also looked good, but with one caveat: it did not work out to reliably close Eigirdas Zhukauskas — the Lithuanian scored 11 of the 13 points of the guest team. The equal starting period ended with an offensive three-point hit by Jeremiah Hill along with the siren - 21:24.
In the second quarter the visitors began to play much tougher on defense, trying to cut off the point guard with the help of pressure. And that gave “Parma-Parimatch” an opportunity to go on a 14-3 run. Rostislav Vergun called two timeouts, but not in vain: Tsmoki-Minsk rebuilt their offense, becoming an impenetrable zone in the back and handing the initiative back to the "small players" in front. The Ural team's 12-point lead was cut in half.
This success inspired the “Dragons”, and they won the next ten minutes, despite the fact that Mareks MeJeris scored seven points for the Team of Perm. Yauheni Beliankou scored eight points and pulled their opponent close, 57:58.
The denouement
“Tsmoki-Minsk” stormed into the end zone as leaders, thanks to accurate shots by American legionnaires Angelo Warner and Jason Clark, supported by Yauheni Beliankou, 72:66. But “Parma-Parimatch” answered with a Mareks MeJeris double-double and a three-pointer by Nikolai Zhmako – 75:76 with 51 seconds to go. Again our players suffered a big loss in the middle of the court, which they took advantage of by delaying their attack as much as possible. When the home team needed to foul, the Team of Perm cold-bloodedly converted two free throws.
Prominent roles
Yauheni Beliankou, played an important role late in the game: he played solid defense, ran to the basket, jumped under the basket, and shot from the perimeter. Mareks Mejeris was the most active player for “Parma-Parimatch”: His two accurate shots and successful rebound in the final minute helped the visitors pull out a win.
The number
73 - that's the percentage of shots made by Yauheni Beliankou, who was named the best player of our team.
Most productive
"Tsmoki-Minsk": Yauheni Beliankou, - 20 + 5 rb, Angelo Warner - 15 + 7 passes + 5 rb, Jason Clark - 10 + 3 rb, Stefan Jankovic - 9 + 6 rb.
"Parma-Parimatch": Mareks Mejeris - 23 + 5 rb + 2 st, Eigirdas Zukauskas - 14 + 7 rb.
Rostislav Vergun, Tsmoki-Minsk:
Thank you very much for the support and atmosphere in the hall, which the fans created for us today. Probably instability in the game, if we talk specifically about the quarters: 1 loss in one, 7 losses in the second. 2 second chance points in 37 minutes and then 8 points in the last 3 minutes. Those are probably the main factors of the opponent's victory. Thanks to the guys who fought. Really appreciate what they do despite everything. I have a lot of respect for them.
Kazys Makswytis, Parma-Parimatch:
I'm happy with the win today, but not happy with the quality of the game. It happened that our team hasn't played in three weeks. We lost a little rhythm and overplayed the ball. "Tsmoki" played without their "tall players" today, but even that turned out to be good for them. We couldn't use our taller players that well, so we had to downsize the lineup, so I'm happy with the results. I want to congratulate all the Perm fans
Next game
“Tsmoki-Minsk” will play in the third round of the VTB United League on October 16 in Saratov against “Avtodor”. The game will take place in the Sport Palace "Kristall" and will start at 16.00 on Belarusian time.