Basketball club «Astana» won another victory over «Barsy Atyrau» in the National League. The day before, our team confidently outplayed Atyrau rivals and there was no question about the favorites in today's game. Darko Russo engaged Anthony Hickey and Skylar Spencer in the game today, and the starting five was almost the same as yesterday Anthony Hickey, Mark Tikhonenko, Maxim Marchuk, Ruslan Aitkali, only Dmitry Gavrilov was replaced by Skylar Spencer.
After the jumping ball, it went to our opponents, who immediately opened the scoring with a long-range shot. Anthony Hickey became the first player in our squad to score points today. And in general, in the first five minutes, he was the only one who scored points for «Astana.» In the first minutes of the game, “Barsy” played rather well and were keeping ahead, but Hickey scored points for every taste – from an average distance, from a long distance, from a free throw line. It was he who equalized the score in the game for the first time and put «Astana» forward. But his efforts did not help our team to lead in the middle of the first quarter — our guests were four points away. Maxim Marchuk showed a great game, having earned five points, and Mark Tikhonenko again brought the capital team forward from the penalty line. Now «Barsy» were in the role of catching up, but if for some time they managed to stay at arm's length from us, and our advantage was supported by Hickey and Pan, then the last minute was completely ours. After points from Maksim Marchuk and Mark Tikhonenko, the final score was 27:21 in our favor. The difference was not big, but all those who finished the first period distinguished themselves at the beginning of the second. Tikhonenko and Marchuk scored three points each and made the difference between “Astana” two-digit. Before the equator of the quarter, the difference was kept in the region of ten points, and the opponents made attempts to restore the balance. During this time, Mark Tikhonenko, Anthony Hickey, Skylar Spencer, and Nikolai Bazhin added scores to their accounts. In the last five minutes of the first half, Ruslan Aitkali scored two three-pointers, Nikolai Bazhin scored three points, and Anthony Hickey and Robert Pan scored two each. Capital's advantage, not that much, but increased nevertheless, and the teams left for a long break with the score — 55:42.
After switching sides, the Astana players had a great start to the second half and increased their lead by nine points, Maxim Marchuk, Nikolai Bazhin, and Anthony Hickey scored, but immediately missed the opponents' seven-point attack. To the equator of the third period, «Astana» was in the lead by fifteen points. In the second half of the third ten-minute period, the game was quite productive. Both teams were actively scoring and updating their scores. Skylar Spencer, Maxim Marchuk, Anthony Hickey, and Mark Tikhonenko earned points, and Nikolai Bazhin scored five points. But during this time, our gap increased by only two points, and before the final ten-minute period, “Astana” was in the lead by seventeen points – 76:59. It cannot be said that the difference between the teams was small, but it was impossible to call it very confident, although «Barsy» had to try very hard to restore the balance. »Astana» confidently defended its advantage and did not allow the opponents to aggravate the situation. And Ruslan Aitkali committed himself very clearly to this “defense”, by scoring eight points in the first five-minute period of the fourth quarter, and Anthony Hickey also contributed, who earned two points. Opponents' chances almost completely melted away five minutes before the end of the game, when «Astana» was leading by nineteen points. In the last five minutes, the Atyrau team was unable to aggravate the situation, and «Astana» was confidently moving towards its next victory. Robert Pan, Anthony Hickey, Nikolay Bazhin, and Mark Tikhonenko distinguished themselves with effective actions. At the last minute of the game, Pan performed an “and one”, and “Astana” eventually won with a score of
98:80.
Most effective:
- «Astana» — Anthony Hickey again became the best in our squad, earning a double-double today — 27 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals. Nikolai Bazhin updated his account with 15 points and 7 rebounds. 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists for Maxims Marchuk; 14 points, 5 rebounds for Ruslan Aitkali. Mark Tikhonenko scored 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists today, while Robert Pan scored 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
- «Barsy Atyrau» — Americans Jordan Watson — (21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 interceptions), Donte Lamont McGill — (21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals) showed an excellent game against the opponents. Roman Marchuk scored 13 points and 4 rebounds today.
Consequences: «Astana» confidently leads the standings, and «Barsy Atyrau» is now six wins behind our team.
Next match: Immediately after the home series, Darko Russo's team will begin preparations for the away match of the VTB United League against Poland's Zielona Gora, which will take place on January 31 in the city of the same name. As part of the National League, our guys will now play next time only in two months - on March 23 and 24 in visiting «Caspiy».
Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
