Today, the VTB United League match between MINSK and Astana took place at the Falcon Club Arena. In a difficult and spectacular battle, our team won a long-awaited victory with a score 60:58 (21:14, 15:18, 17:11, 7:15).
The starting five
MINSK: Grigory Motovilov, Vadzim Stubeda, Jovan Sljivancanin, Jacob Cebasek, Dmitry Kuratnik.
Astana: Markell Johnson, Vadim Shcherbak, Jordan Skipper-Brown, Roman Marchuk, Carvel Anderson.
The course of the game
Yesterday, point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson left our club, and center Zach Smith is recovering from injury. Despite the absence of two key players, Minsk residents had a decent first half. In the opening quarter, Minsk residents maintained their leadership on the court thanks to accurate three-way shots by Grigory Motovilov and Jacob Cebasek. Jovan Sljivancanin has repeatedly brought important points to the team standings when shooting from the penalty line. At the first break, the opponents left with a score of 21:14.
In the second quarter, Astana took a faster pace of the game and managed to reduce the difference in the score to a minimum. A minute before the big break, the teams equalized the numbers on the scoreboard (32:32), but Alexey Sukhovetsky's wards managed to maintain the lead before the third quarter with accurate free kicks – 36:32.
The well-coordinated interaction of MINSK allowed our team to gain a double-digit advantage in the score a minute before the end of the third quarter. Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo scored two accurate shots from behind the arc, and Jovan Sljivancanin repeatedly proved accurate from the middle distance. The opponents went to the final break with a score of 53:43.
Interchange
The last 10 minutes of the match turned out to be the most intense for the Minsk residents, who wanted to give a long-awaited victory to their fans on the home court. The wards of Fotis Takianos managed to equalize the score on the scoreboard in the last minutes of the match. However, the Minsk residents showed maximum perseverance and ended the match with a bright victory. The final score is 60:58.
The most productive:
MINSK: Grigory Motovilov – 12 + 7 REB + 5 AST + 1 STL, Jovan Shlivanchanin – 12 + 6 REB + 6 AST + 1 STL, Jacob Cebasek – 11 + 8 REB + 1 STL.
Astana: Markell Johnson – 25 + 3 REB + 2 AST + 2 STL, Carvel Anderson – 8 + 4 REB + 3 AST + 2 STL, Jordan Skipper-Brown – 7 + 14 REB + 2 AST + 5 blocks.
Acting head coach of MINSK Aliaksei Sukhavetsky: “Congratulations to our entire organization on this victory. In this difficult situation that we have now: Zach's injury, Jarred's departure, the guys rallied and showed a real masculine character. Today, maybe it didn't turn out to be a beautiful game, Astana also wanted to win. But patience played a big role today – in defense, in attack, my team showed it today. I am proud for them that they found the strength and showed themselves like this today.”
Our men's team will play the next game on March 31 in Ekaterinburg against the leaders of pool B, Uralmash. The match starts at 16:00 Belarusian time. The broadcast will be available on the website of the VTB United League and Belarus 5 Internet.