Today our men's team played the first away match of the VTB United League 2022/23 season with the silver medalists of last year – CSKA. For Minsk residents, the second game of the season with a strong opponent ended with a score 107:63 (27:21, 29:19, 25:17, 26:6).
Starting fives:
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Darol Hernandez-Zinenko, Zach Smith, Uladzislau Blizniuk.
CSKA: Casper Ware, Dejan Davidovac, Nikola Milutinov, Nikita Kurbanov, Aleksey Shved.
Game scenario:
Despite the breakthrough of 6 points from the opponent at the beginning of the first quarter, Minsk residents were able to cope with emotions and gather on the guest site – Uladzislau Blizniuk got the first 3 points with free throws. It is worth noting that our guys demonstrated a beautiful game and accurate “three–point” shots - Vlad Blizniuk and Kiryl Sitnik were able to make effective shots from behind the arc several times. Rostislav Vergun's wards demonstrated a serious attitude and efforts in defense, not allowing CSKA to go into a double-digit advantage. The first quarter ended with a score of 27:21.
After the break, our team continued to fight with dignity and demonstrated success in long-range throws, which the guys bet on. At the same time, fouls and opportunities to score points from the free throw line have become more frequent on both sides. Daniil Kasko with an accurate “three-point” throw reduced the gap between the teams to 5 points (35:30). Minsk residents continued their confident attacks and thanks to the effective shots of Uladzislau Blizniuk, Darol Hernandez-Zinenko and Kiryl Sitnik defended the difference in the score of 16 points closer to the end of the quarter. The teams went on a big break with a score of 56:40.
Interchange:
A good start to the third quarter was demonstrated by Zach Smith and Darol Hernandez-Zinenko, who, thanks to well-coordinated team actions, made a breakthrough of 4 points. Unfortunately, due to frequent fouls, the difference in the score began to increase. Maksim Karattsou scored with a throw from behind the arc, who managed to reduce the difference in the score to 20 points twice with two accurate “three-point” shots. A beautiful completion of the penultimate quarter was a “buzzer” from Zach Smith from Uladzislau Blizniuk. Unfortunately, in the final ten minutes of the match, the pressure of the hosts did not allow our players to perform a number of effective actions. As a result, the MINSK players were able to score 6 points in the quarter due to hits by Zach Smith, Uladzislau Mikulskii and Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo. The match ended with a score of 107:63.
Rostislav Vergun, head coach of MINSK:
— Congratulations to the opponents. Basketball is a very simple game, nothing has changed, you need to throw the ball into the ring. When we can only make 60 points, it is very difficult to expect to win. The opponent used his strengths very well, and deservedly brought the game to a natural result.
The most productive:
MINSK: Darol Hernandez-Zinenko – 14 + 8 REB + 2 AST + 2 STL + 1 block, Kiryl Sitnik – 12 + 4 REB + 1 AST + 1 STL.
CSKA: Aleksey Shved – 21 + 2 REB + 6 AST + 1 STL + 2 block, Nikola Milutinov – 13 + 9 REB + 2 STL.
Next game:
On October 12, MINSK will play with the debutant of this season – the Moscow MBA team. The match will take place in the “Basket Hall”, starting at 8:00 PM. Follow the news on our website and on social networks by tag @minskbasket.