Today, the VTB United League match between MINSK and Runa took place at the Minsk Arena. In a difficult game, Minsk residents failed to win over their Moscow opponent. The final score of the meeting – 62:76 (19:15, 11:27, 21:15, 11:19).
Starting five:
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Vadzim Stubeda, Uladzislau Mikulski, Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo.
Runa: Jeremiah Hill, Alexa Radanov, Kirill Savin, Danila Pokhodyaev, Ilya Popov.
Game scenario
Minsk residents started the match very confidently, holding the lead on the court throughout the first quarter. Our players managed to make several breakthroughs of 4 and 5 points. The exact “three-point” shots were designed by Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo, Jacob Cebasek and Grigori Motovilov. Thanks to the active struggle under their own and someone else's shield, Minsk residents left for the first break with a score of 19:15.
Offensive blunders from Alexey Sukhovetsky's wards allowed Rune to join the active struggle and seize the lead on the floor by the big break (30:42).
Despite the fact that Minsk residents went on a long break with a double-digit gap on the scoreboard, the team managed to quickly work on the mistakes and reduce the difference in the score to 2 points by the middle of the third quarter. This was facilitated by two accurate shots from beyond the arc from Jakob Cebasek and hits from Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson from different distances. After exchanging a few more hits into each other's rings, the rivals left for the last break with a score of 51:57.
Interchange
The final 10 minutes of the match were tense. Despite the fact that Runa kept the advantage in the score, our players did not let the Muscovites go into a big gap in the score on the scoreboard. However, in the end, Erturul Erdogan's wards managed to defend the lead and ended the match with a victory with a score of 76:62.
The most effective:
MINSK: Jarred Ognungbemi-Jackson – 18 + 4 REB+ 5 AST + 1 STL, Grigorii Motovilov – 11 + 3 REB + 1 AST, Jacob Cebasek – 9 + 6 REB + 1 AST + 1 STL.
Runa: Jeremiah Hill – 16 + 8 REB + 3 AST + 1 block, Young Cameron – 14 + 2 REB + 1 AST + 1 block, Juane Morgan – 14 + 6 REB + 1 AST + 1 STL + 2 block.
Acting head coach of MINSK Aliaksei Sukhavetski: “Congratulations to the Runa team on the victory. We did a lot of things today, according to statistics, there are a lot of equal numbers. But the ending put everything in its place. In the last 2.5 minutes, we were unable to score points from good situations, and the opponent scored them somewhere in even more difficult situations. Therefore, we continue to learn how to play in the end, I hope we will succeed."
The next game of Minsk residents will be held on the road on January 24 against Lokomotiv Kuban. The match starts at 20:00. We are rooting for MINSK!