After the game in Krasnodar, the capital basketball team immediately left for Belarus, where on February 19 the match against «Tsmoki-Minsk» in the frame of VTB United League will take place.
«Astana» team could not leave Krasnodar in time, as the flight to Minsk was detained for 8 hours. But, in spite of certain difficulties, «Astana» arrived at the capital of Belarus successfully.
The upcoming game will be crucial for both teams, and one of the most important for our team. «Astana» has already met Minsk «dragons» this season at home, finishing the game with a landslide victory with a score of 84:67 in favour of «Astana». It is no secret that the team from Minsk plays very well at home, and it will not be that easy for our guys.
Broadcasting of the game is available on Sunday, 19 February, at 20:30 on Kazsport TV-channel as well as on the website of the VTB United League.
«Astana» broke the vicious circle of a five defeat streak by beating Belarusian «Tsmoki-Minsk» on the road with the score of 80:70 (23:15, 21:19, 13:14, 23:22).
«Astana», thanks to the reliable protection and confident game of the team leaders Ousman Kruballi and Ian Miller won 10 points in the first half (44:34). Kazakhs have long held the advantage, but when «Tsmoki» allowed the opponent to score only 2 points three and a half minutes after the start of the fourth quarter, the fans got the second wind (55:60). The attack of Minsk warriors was forced by the Greek legions of yellow and blue. Leonidas Kaselakis cheered teammates by scoring out of the ring, and his companion Dimitrios Katsivelis soon gave a gorgeous pass to Kruballi, who could do nothing but score. «Astana» stopped the next attack of the Belarusians, and in the ensuing possession our American forward got offensive rebound, hit 2 foul points, and led the score to 70:59 in less than 3 minutes before the buzzer. By holding back the final assault of «dragons», «Astana» broke a series of 5 consecutive defeats.
The most productive:
«Tsmoki-Minsk»: Antonio Graves (18), George Gagich (17 + 9 rebounds), Dru Joyce (7 + 5 rebounds 8 assists).
«Astana»: Ousman Kruballi (23 + 10 rebounds), Ian Miller (16 + 5 assists), Leonidas Kaselakis (16).
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Igor Grishchuk:
– Astana is very good on defence. We slept through the first 10 minutes, which I think is the main reason for the loss.
Astana head coach Ilias Papatheodorou:
– This was a very tough game because Tsmoki is a strong team. We wanted to be aggressive and I think we did that: we controlled the game from the start to the end.
Its next match Astana will hold on the road, the team will go to Saratov, where on February 25 it is going to meet with Avtodor in the championship of VTB United League.
