On October 31, the walls of the Falcon Club Arena hosted the next home court game of Minsk residents in the VTB United League of the 2022/23 season with Samara. Today's meeting was missed due to injuries by one of the most productive players of MINSK, Zach Smith and Kiryl Sitnik. And in a difficult duel, the team had to test their strength for strength. Samara won a difficult match with an account 68:80 (24:13, 14:13, 20:24, 18:22).
Starting fives
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Darol Hernandez Zinenko, Maksim Karattsou, Uladzislau Blizniuk.
Samara: James Ennis, Nikita Zverev, Marcos Knight, Anton Kardanakhishvili, Vladimir Pichkurov.
Game scenario
Despite the fact that the Samaritans got the first 2 points of the match in their piggy bank, Uladzislau Blizniuk loaded an accurate “three-point” and brought our team forward. The guests were able to gain an advantage with free throws, but MINSK did not slow down and in a quick break Daniil Barysevich returned +1 to our team on the scoreboard just a few seconds later. For the first five minutes of the game, the teams did not let each other go to a noticeable advantage, every now and then leaving the opponent a maximum of +2 on the scoreboard. As soon as Samara pulled ahead, Daniil Kasko, Daniil Barysevich and Uladzislau Blizniuk equalized the chances of the teams with accurate hits from the penalty area, then from the middle distance. And Vadzim Stubeda, having made an interception at all, managed to bring the attack even to +3 on the scoreboard for MINSK (9:6). However, after the opponent's breakthrough of 6 points, Rostislav Vergun decided to take a timeout. Unfortunately, the pressure of Sergey Bazarevich's wards in the first quarter turned out to be stronger, the teams left for the first break with a score of 13:24.
Playing with a confident double-digit advantage on the scoreboard, Samara began to attack Minsk residents more aggressively, not giving the opportunity to get close to the ring. It is worth noting that MINSK did not give up positions either – in three minutes of the game in the second quarter, they only allowed the opponent to make effective shots twice. From the penalty line, Vlad Blizniuk managed to remove a double–digit advantage of Samara - 20:29. Uladzislau Mikulskii, Uladzislau Blizniuk and Daniil Kasko got important points in the piggy bank of our team. However, this did not help Minsk residents to establish leadership positions on the home court. The teams went to the big break with a score of 26:38.
At the start of the third quarter, the captain of Minsk pleased the fans with another “three-point”, as Maksim Karattsou made an accurate throw from behind the arc in another attack. Literally immediately, the same tandem made a breakthrough of another 4 points, and Sergey Bazarevich decided to take a timeout (36:43). Our guys made every effort to win back. At a very fast pace, the rivals made effective attacks on equal terms, exchanging “three-point" and hits from an average distance. In the last minute of the quarter Vlad Blizniuk made an incredible breakthrough 5:0, leaving his team with all the chances to snatch victory from the opponent (50:58).
Interchange
At the beginning of the final quarter, unfortunately, the opponent's ring yielded only to free throws by Daniil Kasko and Vadzim Stubeda, while Samara managed to get 13 points already. Having spent a good second and third quarters, perhaps Minsk residents, feeling a high responsibility on the home court, could not cope with the excitement. Despite a number of accurate shots from Vlad Bliziyuk and Vlad Mikulskii, the victory in today's meeting remained for the wards of Sergey Bazarevich. The final score of the match is 68:80.
Prominent roles
Uladzislau Blizniuk today became the most accurate throw in both teams, scoring 26 points. Including Vlad made 4 effective shots from behind the arc and demonstrated 100% hits from the penalty line.
The most productive:
MINSK: Uladzislau Blizniuk – 26 + 2 REB + 5 AST + 1 STL, Uladzislau Mikulskii – 11 + 4 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL, Aliaksei Trastsinetski – 8 + 4 REB + 3 AST + 3 STL.
Samara: KC Rivers - 18 + 10 REB + 5 AST + 4 STL + 1 block, Marcos Knight – 17 + 3 REB + 6 AST + 2 STL + 1 block, Malcolm Thomas – 13 + 4 REB + 3 AST + 1 STL + 2 block.
Rostislav Vergun, head coach of MINSK:
— First of all, I want to thank the fans who, despite the difficult times for us, and maybe not the result we would like to see, continue to support us. This is very important for the team. Secondly, I would really like to thank the guys for their dedication and will to win, which they showed on the court today. At key moments, we made a lot of unforced losses, which led to easy points for the opponent. Therefore, it was not possible to get closer and drag the opponent into the ending.
The next game will take place on November 7 against Kazan UNICS at Minsk Arena at 7.00 PM. Tickets can be purchased on the website and at points of sale KVITKI.by . We believe in the team!