Aliaksei Sukhavetski's team played the final match of the VTB United League 2023/24 season against MBA in Moscow today. Minsk residents lost to their opponent with a score in a difficult fight 70:81 (12:19, 23:28, 16:18, 19:16).
The starting five:
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Grigory Motovilov, Vadzim Stubeda, Jovan Sljivancanin, Jakob Cebasek.
MBA: Alexander Khomenko, Gleb Goldyrev, Maxim Barashkov, Evgeny Minchenko, Timofey Yakushin.
The course of the game
Muscovites scored 6 points at the start of the match, but our team managed to quickly get into the game pace and responded with a number of effective attacks. Grigory Motovilov and Dmitry Kuratnik repeatedly made accurate shots, and the opponents left with a score of 19:12 at the first break.
In the second quarter, the opponents continued to increase the pace of the game. Jacob Cebasek loaded two accurate “three-point" shots, and Grigory Motovilov repeatedly threw an MBA into the ring from an average distance. Minsk residents demonstrated well-coordinated work, but could not leave for a long break by the leaders of the site (47:35).
The denouement
In the second half of the meeting, our team continued its bright struggle, but Vasily Karasev's wards also responded with perseverance and zeal for victory. In MINSK, Dmitry Kuratnik, Uladzislau Mikulski, Ivan Aladka, Jovan Sljivancanin and Artem Sekushenka scored accurate shots from behind the arc. However, unfortunately, the efforts made were not enough to win. The final score of the match is 81:70.
The most effective:
MINSK: Grigory Motovilov – 14 + 1 REB + 6 AST + 1 STL, Vadzim Stubeda – 11 + 8 REB + 2 AST, Jacob Cebasek – 10 + 4 REB + 2 AST + 1 STL.
MBA: Vladislav Trushkin – 17 + 5 REB + 1 AST + 2 STL, Daniil Kasatkin – 14 + 4 REB + 6 AST + 1 STL, Evgeny Minchenko – 11 + 4 REB.
MINSK head coach Alexey Sukhovetsky: “Congratulations to the IBA team on the victory. Today we failed to demonstrate the quality that we achieved in previous meetings. This is due to 21 losses, with so many of them it is difficult to count on a positive result. Also, the problem of penalties has not gone anywhere yet. The season is not over for our team, we are still playing in the Belarusian championship. We need to correct these points for the internal championship. I wish you good luck next season.”
After a short pause, Minsk residents will join the fight for the title of champions of Belarus. The first game of the semi-finals will be held on April 26. Follow the news on our website.