In the away game of the VTB United League Tsmoki-Minsk lost to the Russian club Nizhny Novgorod - 65:72 (23:25, 18:11, 8:14, 16:22).
Starting fives:
Tsmoki-Minsk: Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou, Jason Clark, Stefan Jankovic, Vadim Stubeda.
Nizhny Novgorod: Ivan Strebkov, Maxim Lichutin, Anton Astapkovich, Alexander Gankevich, Sergey Toropov.
Game scenario
Before the presentation of the teams, the head coach of Tsmoki-Minsk Rostislav Vergun gathered the players around him and gave an emotional speech. It was evident that the guys were very charged for the game. And it immediately affected. Our team defended very tightly and aggressively, on turnovering or rebounding, they ran at full speed in counterattacks, increasing the rate. And our guys were great at throwing from the perimeter. The tone for long-range hits was set by Clark, who was later supported by Blizniuk. To tell the truth, in the Nizhny Novgorod roster there was also a man with a hot hand - Astapkovich, who scored 3 threes in the starting quarter. In general, game was very effective - the teams scored 48 points in it for two.
The dragons started the second period well. Beliankou scored hard outwitting two guardians and Warner scored seven points in a row. It is a pity that it was not possible to increase the 4-point advantage - “NN” tried to immediately respond with effective combinations. In the 17th minute, Stubeda received the fourth foul, and this was disturbing, because there was no Upshaw in the squad for this match. And the end of the period remained with the Minsk team: first Trastsinetski put the ball into the basket with a distant hit from the corner, at the last second the captain's trick was repeated by Jankovic, and the ball hit the target under the sound of a siren - 41:36.
After the break, the game took on a ragged rhythm, first one team, then the other made effective jerks - 0: 5, 8: 0, 0: 5. Moreover, the acceleration of the Dragons could have been even more significant if Dodoo had scored three free throws, but Benjamin-Pavel hit only one. The end of the period gave Rostislav Vergun some unpleasant information to think about: Stubeda got a foul-out, and the other “big”, Hernandez-Zinenko, got a fourth personal foul. It is clear that the hosts got an advantage in this regard in the fight on the shield. And they made use of this advantage.
Denouement
If at the start of the final quarter the Minskers breathed in the back of the hosts (53:55), then NN made a spurt and increased the 10-point advantage, mainly due to victories in duels for rebound. Beliankou and Clark, who was “silent” for too long in the second half, tried to rectify the situation. However, 0.53 before the end, Astapkovich got the putback (72:62) and practically removed the question of the winner. It was unrealistic to win back 10 points in the remaining seconds, especially since Nizhny Novgorod was spending game time competently.
Prominent role
Born in Belarus, Anton Astapkovich became an evil genius for the Dragons: he scored 20 points, hit 4 threes, got 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
Scoring leaders
Tsmoki-Minsk: Jason Clark - 15 + 13 REB + 2 ATS, Angelo Warner - 14 + 6 REB + 5 AST + 2 STL + 1 BLK, Stefan Jankovic 10 + 6 REB, Yauheni Beliankou - 10 + 1 BLK.
Nizhny Novgorod: Anton Astapkovich - 20 PTS + 5 AST, Sergey Toropov - 17 + 7 REB + 2 STL, Alexander Gankevich - 10 + 9 REB + 3 AST + 1 BLK.
Rostislav Vergun:
The key moment was probably the 14-point spurt performed by our opponent. Unfortunately, every game is played in such a way that we give the opponent too much advantage both in points and in emotions, allowing to make such a leap. We were able to get out of it later. Probably that tough game that we allowed on the court today was more useful for Nizhny Novgorod. They feel more comfortable and such tenacious, sometimes dirty, defensive play gives them an additional advantage. Therefore, in today's game, this spurt and good tenacious defense allowed Nizhny to win.
Next game
The next VTB United League match "Tsmoki-Minsk" will be held on December 6. At the home court at Minsk-Arena our team will host UNICS Kazan. The game will start at 19.00.