On November 29, the men's team played against UNICS in Kazan as part of the VTB United League. In the competition with one of the leaders of the current season , Minsk residents lost with a score 102:53 (25:12, 29:8, 30:11, 18:22).
Starting fives
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo, Darol Hernandez Zinenko, Supreme Shakur Hannah, Uladzislau Blizniuk.
UNICS: Nenad Dimitrijevic, Jalen Reynolds, Daryl Macon, Louis Labeyrie, Georgiy Zhbanov.
Game scenario
In the first quarter, the hosts managed to get a double-digit advantage, including due to several attempts at free throws. Supreme Hannah and Darol Hernandez Zinenko were the first from Minsk to register hits, and even led the team ahead at the beginning of the game. However, UNICS has been working on the mistakes since the last meeting and did not leave our team the opportunity to keep the pressure of the owners of the site. On the first break, the teams left with a score of 25:12.
In the second quarter, the opponent from Kazan stepped up work on rebounds and made almost three times more effective attacks than Minsk. In our team, Supreme Hannah, Vadzim Stubeda, Daniil Barysevich and Kiryl Sitnik tried to reduce the difference in the score, but this did not save them from a significant difference on the scoreboard by the end of the second quarter (54:20).
Interchange
In the second half of the match, UNICS took control of the pace of the game and repeatedly scored points in their team's piggy bank. The opponent's powerful defense allowed Minsk residents to score 11 points in the quarter thanks to hits by Supreme Hannah, Kanstantsin Pasko, Uladzislai Mikulskii and Darol Hernandez Zinenko. The score before the final quarter is 84:31.
For the final 10 minutes of the game, Velimir Perasovic's team continued to gain momentum, delighting their fans on the home court. Meanwhile, in MINSK, Kiryl Sitnik and Kiryl Vaskautsou made effective shots repeatedly both from medium and long range. The match ended with a score of 102:53.
Head coach of MINSK Rostislav Vergun:
– Sport is a very good imitation of real life. Basketball is probably the best sport in the world. We challenged a very strong team in Minsk. I think the opposing coach can be proud of his guys, how they accepted the challenge and showed their level, marked themselves and their place in the VTB United League. We, in turn, having challenged, somewhere incorrectly managed to analyze and prepare ourselves for this pressure and the quality of the game. It's a shame to realize that one victory so easily knocked us out of focus and team play. Unacceptable and inexplicable, it remains to apologize to the fans for such basketball.
The most effective:
MINSK: Kiryl Sitnik - 17, Supreme Hannah – 8 + 1 REB + 1 AST, Vadzim Stubeda – 8 + 6 REB.
UNICS: Daryl Macon – 26 + 2 REB + 1 AST, Vyacheslav Zaitsev – 13 + 2 REB + 1 AST + 1 STL, Stanislav Ilnitskii – 12 + 6 REB + 2 AST.
On December 5, MINSK will meet with Pari Nizhny Novgorod at the home court The game starts at 7:00 PM, tickets can be purchased on the website and at points of sale KVITKI.by .