«Astana» (3-10) dropped to 9th place in the table after 2 consecutive losses against «Tsmoki». «Avtodor» (8-5) arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan with Nikita Mikhailovsky, who returned from a loan at the Australian Tasmania.
It took «Avtodor» quite a long time to finally arrive in Nur-Sultan because of this, the start of the match was postponed by 5 hours. This is probably why «Astana» started the game more successfully: Ruslan Aitkali and Maksim Marchuk made a 7-0 breakthrough. «Avtodor» was catching up with the rivals for quite a long time and managed to take the lead only by the middle of the quarter — 11:9. One of the important events of this segment was the release from the bench of Nikita Mikhailovsky: the guard made his debut in the season and made an assist in one of the very first attacks.
However, the end of the 10 minutes was up to the hosts: Antonio Campbell stepped up in the opponent's half and helped his team win the quarter — 16:12. The forward acted as a leader in the next quarter, during which «Astana» won «+7». «Avtodor» tried to come back with long-range shots. So, Pavel Sergeev scored a three-pointer from 7 meters after the dribble, and then Alexander Petenev supported his teammate. Before the biggest break, Nikita Mikhailovsky scored his first points of the season, but even this was not enough to take over the lead. «Astana» won the first half — 36:35.
But even before the big break, there was a feeling that the guests seized the initiative in the match — and in one of the first attacks of the 3rd quarter, Jeron Johnson brought Avtodor ahead for the first time in a long time. «Astana» regained its lead for a short time, however, it was not possible to slow down the Saratov players, who took over the game.
The Volzhans, thanks to the efforts of Johnson, Pavel Sergeev, and Anton Kvitkovsky, went to the last break with a margin of 4 points. Avtodor significantly improved in their half of the court, closing the perimeter, and allowed the opponents to score only 14 points in 10 minutes.
Key moment: In the 4th quarter, Avtodor continued to pull away from the Kazakh team. Shots by Mikhailovsky and Minchenko created a double-digit difference for the first time in the match, and Yevgeny Minchenko put an end to the game. The center first made 2 free throws, and then scored a three-pointer, increasing the difference in the score to 17 points — 57:74 5 minutes before the buzzer.
Most productive: Antonio Campbell (11) and Ruslan Aitkali (10).
Acting head coach of «Astana» Dejan Parezanin: «I congratulate «Avtodor» on the victory. They played well. In the first half, we played with great dedication in defense and attack and controlled the game. But after a long break, we did not have enough energy, so we started to make mistakes. We did not have the opportunity for fast breaks and easy shots. I hope that we will catch up, although we do not have time. But we must not give up, we will continue to work on it».
What's next: March 27 at home with «Zenit».
Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
