On December 1, a spectacular duel between MINSK and Pari Nizhny Novgorod took place at the Nagorny Sports Complex. Despite a decent fight, Minsk residents could not win the first victory of the season. The final score of the meeting – 90:79 (25:24, 19:18, 19:21, 27:16).
Starting five:
MINSK: Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Grigory Motovilov, Vadzim Stubeda, Jacob Cebasek, Dmitri Kuratnik.
“Pari Nizhny Novgorod": Alexander Gankevich, Vladimir Ivlev, Alexa Novakovich, Ivan Strebkov, Evgeny Baburin.
Game progress
All four ten-minute games turned out to be very spectacular and unpredictable, making it impossible to determine the obvious favorite. At the start of the match, Minsk residents were pleased with the “+10” on the scoreboard. The exact “3 point" shots were designed by Grigory Motovilov, Jacob Cebasek and Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson. However, by the end of the first quarter, Nizhny Novgorod were able to leave the lead from the site with a difference in the score of only 1 point (25:24).
Despite the efforts made and the coordinated struggle, the Minsk residents lacked only one hit in order to seize the lead from Zoran Lukic's wards. Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson and Aleksandar Zecevic scored numerous accurate shots from different distances in MINSK. The teams went to the big break with a score of 44:42.
The active defense and defense from Rostislav Vergun's wards allowed our team to equalize the score on the scoreboard by the start of the last quarter. 6 MINSK players brought important points to the team standings: Kuratnik, Kasko, Ogungbemi-Jackson, Zecevic, Cebasek and Stubeda.
Interchange
In the end, a number of offensive misses and unrealized attacks led to the fact that the Russian opponent began to increase the advantage in the score. With a number of jerks, our players reduced the gap, but in the final segment, Zoran Lukic's team increased the pace of the game. Pari Nizhny Novgorod broke their streak of 9 defeats and finished the match with a score of 90:79.
The most productive:
MINSK: Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson – 26 + 6 REB + 5 AST, Grigory Motovilov – 12 + 5 REB + 1 STL, Jacob Cebasek – 10 + 5 REB.
"Pari Nizhny Novgorod": Ivan Strebkov – 19 + 2 REB + 11 AST + 1 block, Dragan Apic – 18 + 4 REB + 1 AST+ 1 block, Alexa Novakovich – 12 + 8 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL.
MINSK head coach Rostislav Vergun: ”The game was very important. The pressure that was off the court added to the interest. It was the depth of the attacking potential that we lacked. We are too dependent, too expected. Due to the fact that one person is constantly able to create some kind of advantage, threat. It is very important for me that this period that we spent together, especially for those guys who play in the League for the first year, so that they use it correctly and learn to understand the requirements of this level of basketball. You need to take responsibility, understand how to materialize it into points, or at least create an advantage that will lead to a partner's free throw. We are getting better, but it is not enough to win at this level.”
On December 7, at 18:30, MINSK will play against Astana at the home Falcon Club Arena. Tickets for the match can be purchased on the website and at points of sale kvitki.by Your support is important to the team, we are waiting for everyone!