Today, the first game of the final of the Belarusian Championship among men's teams of the 2022/23 season took place at the Minsk Arena. MINSK met with Grodno-93 and defeated Dmitry Kuzmin's wards with a score 71:67 (19:11, 17:15, 16:20, 19:21).
Starting fives:
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Jovan Sljivancanin, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Zach Smith, Uladzislau Blizniuk.
Grodno-93: Vladislav Shvakel, Alexander Pustogvar, Ilya Sharipov, Dmitry Kuratnik, Kirill Vinokurov.
Game scenario
A 4:0 breakthrough at the start of the game was made by Jovan Sljivancanin and Uladzislau Mikulski, having gained leadership for their team on the home court. Minsk residents managed another breakthrough thanks to two accurate hits in a row from DaQuan Bracey. Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo's “three-point” and Minsk's double-digit advantage in the score on the scoreboard forced Dmitry Kuzmin to take the second half-out. However, Rostislav Vergun's wards continued their confident interaction and left for the first break with a score of 19:11.
In the second quarter, Minsk residents continued their confident struggle: DaQuan Bracey made three accurate shots from an average distance. Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Jovan Sljivancanin and Uladzislau Mikulski also brought important points to the team standings. This allowed MINSK to go on a big break with “+10" on the scoreboard (36:26).
Despite the attempts of Grodno-93 to cope with the pace of Minsk residents, our team continued to fight confidently both in defense and in attack, without conceding leadership. Repeated accurate hits were made by Jovan Sljivancanin and Uladzislau Mikulski. The score before the final quarter was 52:46.
In the fourth quarter, Grodno-93 became more aggressive in attack and managed to reduce the difference in the score to just 1 point at the start of the final ten minutes of the match. The situation was corrected by the response “three-point” from the captain of the Minsk residents. Rostislav Vergun's wards managed to keep the right pace and won the first match of the final with a score of 71:67.
The most productive:
MINSK: Vladislav Mikulsky – 16 + 1 REB + 2 AST + 2 STL, DaQuan Bracey – 16 + 2 REB + 4 AST , Jovan Shlivanchanin – 13 + 7 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL.
Grodno-93: Ilya Sharipov – 17 + 7 REB + 3 AST + 1 STL, Alexander Pustogvar – 13 + 8 REB + 2 AST , Nikola Jurich – 11 + 7 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL + 1 block.
MINSK head coach Rostislav Vergun: “Of course, it's great that we started the series with a home victory. As expected, the opponent packed into the so-called “bus". This is how everyone plays with us in Belarus, we must be ready. It is necessary to improve the percentage of hits. The quality of the game: 10 losses, probably this was the key factor. We are preparing for the same match, we are waiting for everyone in the arena, thank you for your support.”
The center of “MINSK” Vadzim Stubeda: “I think today was a good game. It shows our desire to win. I think we will gain more in technique and in the next match, I hope the gap will be much greater.”
The next game of the final will take place this Saturday, May 13 at the Minsk Arena. The match starts at 14:30. We are waiting for everyone, admission is free!