The final match of 2023 in the VTB United League took place today at the Minsk Arena for our men's team. The leaders of the standings, CSKA, came to visit. The match ended with the victory of the guests, the final score of the meeting – 83:97 (23:23, 17:29, 22:29, 21:16).
Starting five:
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Vadzim Stubeda, Jakob Cebasek, Dmitrii Kuratnik.
CSKA: Melo Trimble, Ivan Ukhov, Anton Astapkovich, Livio Jean-Charles, Amat M'bai.
Game scenario
In the opening quarter, Minsk residents fought a confident battle on the home court, and retained the advantage in the score for almost the entire first 10 minutes of the match. Ivan Aladka, Aleksandar Zecevic and Dmitrii Kuratnik scored repeated accurate shots. MINSK lacked only one effective attack to leave for the first break by the leaders of the site. In the last minute of the quarter, Ivan Aladka scored two accurate hits from different distances, and in the last seconds, newcomer Artem Zabelin scored his first points in MINSK. The score after the first 10 minutes of the game was 23:23.
On equal terms, the rivals continued to fight at the start of the second quarter, only with shots from the penalty line CSKA managed to seize the lead. Muscovites joined in a more aggressive fight, and at a rapid pace began to increase their advantage on the guest floor. In our team, Dmitri Kuratnik and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson pleased the audience with accurate “three-point” shots, the rivals went to the big break with a score of 40:52.
Emil Rajkovic's players continued to press in the third quarter. In our team, Ogungbemi-Jackson, Cebasek and Zecevic pleased the audience with repeated hits. However, the red and blue went to the final break with a confident advantage (62:81).
Interchange
In the final 10 minutes of the match, Alexey Sukhovetsky's wards were not inferior in their zeal for victory and desire to demonstrate a high-quality game, making a small leap of 5 points at the start of the final quarter. Despite a number of mistakes and blunders, Minsk residents fought on every centimeter of the site. Ivan Aladka and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson scored the exact “three-point”. The match ended with a score of 83:97.
The most productive:
MINSK: Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson – 20 + 3 REB + 3 AST + 1 STL, Aleksandar Zecevic – 18 + 7 REB + 1 AST + 1 STL, Ivan Aladka – 12 + 2 REB + 3 AST.
CSKA: Samson Ruzhentsev – 17 + 3 REB + 2 AST + 3 STL, Amat M'Bai – 16 + 2 REB + 4 AST + 2 STL,
Number
9017 – so many spectators came to the Minsk Arena to watch the final home match of 2023. Today our basketball club set a new season record for attendance at VTB United League matches
Alexey Sukhavetski, acting head coach of MINSK: “Congratulations to CSKA on the victory, they played well today and coped with what we came up with for them. It is clear that the team is of a high level, they scored 97 points. We definitely need to improve our defense. We did a lot of things: ball movement, and aggression on the rebound. We are slowly moving forward, trying to improve our game and looking for our victory. Thanks to the players for the effort on the court.”
Minsk residents will compete for the Belarusian Cup on December 28 and 29. On December 28, MINSK will play against Borysthenes Mogilev in the semifinals at 17:00 in the walls of the RGUOR. Admission is free!