Today, the MINSK men's team played against Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road in a VTB United League match. In a difficult match, the hosts of the site took the victory, the final score – 74:61 (16:16, 24:18, 14:15, 20:12).
Starting five:
MINSK: Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Jovan Sljivancanin, Daniil Barysevich, Zach Smith, Jakob Cebasek.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Alexander Gankevich, Alexander Chadov, Ivan Strebkov, Mikhail Belenitsky, Vladislav Bliznyuk.
The course of the game
The opponents spent the first 10 minutes of the match in an equal fight, scoring 16 points each. Zach Smith and Daniil Barysevich scored repeated hits from an average distance. In the next quarter, the owners of the site demonstrated a higher percentage of shots. But the Minsk residents were not inferior in quality: the leaders on the floor in our team were Zach Smith and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, whose tandem brought MINSK 15 points.
Aliaksei Sukhavetsky's wards spent the third quarter more effectively than Nizhny Novgorod residents. However, the Minsk residents failed to significantly reduce the difference in the score by the final 10 minutes of the match.
The denouement
In the fourth quarter, Zoran Lukic's team began to increase the difference in the score in their favor again in fast and aggressive attacks. Despite hits from Zach Smith, Grigory Motovilov, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson and Jacob Cebasek, Pari Nizhny Novgorod kept the pace necessary for victory. The final score is 74:61.
It is worth noting that today's match has become distinctive for two MINSK players at once. Zach Smith (21 points) updated his personal record in the VTB United League in scoring per game, and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson became the 7th player in the history of the tournament to score more than 600 points during the season.
The most productive:
MINSK: Zach Smith – 21 + 14 REB + 1 STL + 1 block, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson – 17 + 3 REB + 6 AST, Uladzislau Mikulsky – 8 + 3 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Kendall Smith – 21 + 5 REB + 4 AST + 3 STL, Alexander Gankevich – 14 + 3 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL, Andrey Vorontsevich – 12 + 4 REB + 3 AST + 1 STL + 4 block.
Acting head Coach Aliaksei Sukhavetski: "Congratulations to Pari Nizhny Novgorod on a well-deserved victory. We are treated with great respect, a very competent team, and today we had a good game against them, we were very tuned. Unfortunately, there was a man in their ranks who pulled along – Kendall Smith. There were two segments where he scored 8 points in a row. And the second such stretch at the end of the third quarter took too much of our strength, our attempts to get back into the game were unsuccessful. In the fourth quarter, we didn't find any opportunities to catch up with the opponent.”
This Sunday, March 24 at 15:00, Minsk residents will hold an ecomatch against Runa on their home ground. Tickets for the match can be purchased on the website and at points of sale kvitki.by , as well as in the lobby of the arena from 14:00 on the day of the game. Let's support MINSK together!