«Astana» Lost to «Avtodor»

«Astana» played another away game in the United VTB League, where they lost to Saratov's «Avtodor.»

Despite the defeat with a score of 83:92, the match was notable for the excellent performance of Markell Johnson (39 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) and Carvel Anderson (30 points).

Thus, the game turned out to be historic for the two «Astana» basketball players: Markell's performance became his career-best in terms of points per game and the second-best result in the current League season (only behind Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who scored 42 points in a November match against «PARMA»). He also achieved the second-best efficiency rating in the history of the competition, scoring 57 points. Only the late Stevan Jelovac, who played for «Nizhny Novgorod,» has scored more, with 64 points.

«It was a tough game because we've had several defeats and had to play against zone defense for the first time this season. We responded well to this, and I'm pleased with the result. We need to continue in the same spirit and focus on the next opponents. I was confident in the young players who joined the game towards the end. They earned trust with their hard work in training. Yes, they are still young and need to improve their understanding of basketball. But I like how they behave, how they support the more experienced players, even when they're not playing. They're learning to be part of the team and will get more and more chances,» commented the home team's head coach Milenko Bogicevic.

Now, Fotios Takianos's team has returned to Astana. On April 4, the capital club will host «Runa» on the court of the «Saryarka» velodrome.