The VTB United League championship calendar arranged an original two-round competition for “Tsmoki-Minsk” and Kazakhstan's “Astana”: within five days, the teams met each other twice. On Sunday, the “dragons” were stronger in Minsk - 66:60. Today in Nur-Sultan, Rostislav Vergun's wards secured their success with the second victory in a fierce struggle that led to overtime — 65:64 (25:17, 15:12, 7:12, 8:14, 10:9). The victory allowed our team to rise to the playoff zone for the first time this season.
Starting fives
Tsmoki: Uladzislau Blizniuk, Daniil Barysevich, Aliaksei Trastinetski, Yauheni Beliankou, Darol Zinenko.
Astana: Rustam Murzagaliyev, Maxim Marchuk, Nikolay Bazhin, Mark Tikhonenko, Skylar Spencer.
Game Scenario
The match with "Tsmoki-Minsk" was one of the last for "Astana" on the bike track "Saryarka". As the management reported on the club's website, "for technical reasons and in order to popularize basketball in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the capital club will hold home matches of the VTB United League regular season from March 27 in Baluan Sholak Sport and Culture Palace in Almaty. It is clear that they wanted to leave the sports arena, which has served Astana faithfully for many years, beautifully. And what could be more beautiful than victory?
There was another reason to get even with the Minsk players for the defeat. Literally two days after him, Serbian head coach Darko Russo was dismissed. And for his assistant Deyan Parezhanin, who temporarily took over the bridge, it was extremely important to convince the club bosses with a positive result that his candidacy is exactly what Astana needs now.
In the few days that separated the opponents' meetings, the coaching staffs had to come up with something to puzzle the opponent. If “Astana” made a bet on three-point shots in the Belarusian capital, and the dragons preferred to bombard the basket from an average distance more often, now “Tsmoki-Minsk” immediately stunned the owners with targeted firing of long-range artillery. Daniil Barysevich, Darol Hernandez-Zinenko, twice Aliaksei Trastinetski accurately sent "shells" to the target from behind the arc. The Kazakh team, in which Americans Skylar Spencer and Antonio Campbell returned to the floor, clearly did not expect such a crushing debut performed by the guests. It took a minute timeout in order to recover and figure out what the team was underworking. However, the flying "debriefing" did not help out: "Tsmoki-Minsk" continued to dominate, not paying attention to the enemy "zone".
The eight-point superiority gained in the opening quarter became a good springboard for the development of success. After the resumption of the game, Minsk residents quickly crossed a double-digit gap - 31:19. Darol Hernandez-Zinenko scored a smart "dunk", Yauheni Beliankou and Uladzislau Blizniuk charged from the perimeter. At “Astana”, center Skylar Spencer stood out with his persistence, plus Mark Tikhonenko found his throw. But, despite all the efforts of the hosts to get closer to the Minsk residents, our team technically kept them at a double-digit distance and went for a break with a comfortable score of 40:29.
The beginning of the second half was the benefit of Yauheni Beliankou: the leader of "Tsmoki-Minsk", who entered the symbolic five of the VTB United League last week, brought the team five points in a row. It is a pity that the partners did not support him, and for five minutes they could not score a single point. Moreover, they often deprived themselves of the opportunity to complete the positional draw with annoying fouls in attack. While "Astana", feeling that the opponent was experiencing a shortage of ideas, significantly increased in activity and made a 9:0 tug on the exchange. The initiative passed into the hands of the "yellow-blue". It was lucky that Skylar Spencer, who went to the penalty line seven times, scored only twice. Otherwise, the difference in the score could be less than "+6" in favor of "Tsmoki-Minsk".
The fourth period also remained for “Astana”. The situation of Minsk residents was complicated by the fact that Yauheni Beliankou received a foul-out on emotions. Nevertheless, at 1.22 before the buzzer, Aliaksei Trastinetski returned a 4-point advantage to the “dragons”. Alas, two hits by Ruslan Aitkali brought parity back into the game — 55:55. The final attack belonged to the Belarusians, but Uladzislau Blizniuk's long-range throw "to win" turned out to be inaccurate.
Interchange
The plot of the overtime did not please at first — “Astana” took the lead - 62:59. But at the last minute, "Tsmoki-Minsk" overtook the fugitives, and Uladzislau Blizniuk gives the team hope with an incredible value and beauty floater - 63:62. It was obvious how much stress it cost the player — the defender had a cramp in his leg.
The last moments of the duel turned into a real thriller. 0.6 seconds before the end, Rustam Murzagaliyev coolly converted two free throws, and “Astana” took an important step towards victory. And yet luck did not turn away from our guys. In the final attack, Daniil Barysevich forced a foul on himself and, as an experienced master with iron nerves, accurately laid two free throws in the rings. Victory!
Prominent roles
In the decisive minutes, captain Aliaksei Trastinetski played very useful for the team: he scored 3 out of 6 "three-point shots", scored 11 points, made 2 passes and interceptions, the utility coefficient was 14. Also important points, especially at the end of the match, were scored by Uladzislau Blizniuk, who with 16 points became the most productive member of "Tsmoki-Minsk".
Scoring leaders
Tsmoki-Minsk: Uladzislau Blizniuk — 16 + 4 AST + 1 REB + 1 STL, Yauheni Beliankou — 12 + 6 REB + 1AST, Aliaksei Trastinetski — 11 + 7 REB + 2 AST + 2 STL.
Astana: Skylar Spencer — 16 + 13 REB + 3 AST, Rustam Murzagaliyev — 12 + 2 REB + 3 AST + 2 STL , Ruslan Aitkali — 11 + 2 REB, Oleg Balashov — 10 + 7 REB + 2 AST + 2 STL.
Rostislav Vergun - Tsmoki-Minsk Head Coach:
- I congratulate my team on its success. Every victory is worth its weight in gold, and especially for this roster. It is very difficult when we had three games in two months, and now in eleven days — four games with a flight. Taking into account the depth of our roster, the minutes that the leaders had to spend probably affected the quality of our game — it sank in the second half. We lost the rebound, but the character of the leaders affected, who took responsibility at the end of the game. First, they moved it to overtime, then in overtime they constantly caught up with the opponent. And Daniil Barysevich's two free throws in the last seconds — for such moments, basketball players grow up for one season for sure. Thanks to "Astana" for the fight, for the reception. It's very difficult to play two matches in a row. I think it wasn't easy for the opponent either. Teams of the same level, both really wanted to win. We were a little more lucky, plus we once again demonstrated our character. Let's move on and try to compete for a trip to the playoffs.
Next game
The next match of the VTB United League "Tsmoki-Minsk" will be held next Sunday, March 20. At the Falcon Club home court, our basketball players will compete with Krasnodar “Lokomotiv-Kuban”, the game starts at 16.00.