The away match of VTB United League against Estonian “Kalev” turned out to be very hot. The intrigue that lasted three quarters was broken by the team of the basketball club «Astana», having seized the initiative in the end and won a very important victory. It should be noted that “Astana” lost three previous face-to-face meetings with “Kalev”, and the last time they brought victory from Tallinn was almost 4 years ago.
The Estonian team won the jump ball quite confidently, but the first points in this match were scored by our Martins Meyers, who then realized his second throw, after which Astana were leading by three points. The hosts very quickly evened the score and after a minute and a half, they were already ahead. Kalev had a good game, but thanks to the efforts of Dmitry Gavrilov and Ojar Silins, the Kazakh team kept away at the arm's length from the rivals. The first points of Devin Marble in this match again brought our team forward, but not for long. The hosts were again in the lead, but Nikolay Bazhin and Jeremiah Hill 'kept their finger on the pulse' and did not allow the opponents to go far into the lead. Nevertheless, Astana lost the first quarter with a deficit of 4 points — 22:18. At the start of the second period, Askar Maidekin scored his first points in the match, but Kalev continued to hold the lead. The players of the Kazakhstani team tried to chase up the rival, and again the first points from Michael Thompson brought Astana forward. In the middle of the second quarter, the teams changed places, “Astana” acted as a leader and “Kalev” tried to catch up. Closer to the big break, the Kazakhstani advantage achieved 9 points, but after twenty minutes of playing time, Astana won six points — 37:43. Looking ahead, the second quarter became the most successful for the Kazakh team, which won 10 points over the quarter.
After switching sides, Kalev continued to chase Astana and after less than two minutes they achieved an intermediate goal levelling the score. But Devin Marble and Michael Thompson once again brought back a slight advantage to the Kazakh team. The hosts did not let go of Astana and went with our team neck to neck, and the difference between the teams was minute and even slight advantage could have played advantage to the rivals. But three minutes before the end of the third quarter Jeremiah Hill forced the coaching staff of Kalev to take a time-out, bringing the lead of Astana to seven points. Although this figure is not so impressive, it was quite a lot for such a game. The time-out of the Estonians partially helped them, they were able to stop our team from increasing the lead and slightly close the gap, but Kalev could not catch up with our team until the end of the third ten minutes. Before the fourth quarter, Emil Rajkovic's players were 5 points ahead of the rivals — 61:66. Such a gap could not be called comfortable, and all the most important things awaited us in the last ten minutes. After two game minutes of the fourth quarter, Kalev was losing only 2 points, but the players of Astana gathered themselves and demonstrated a good game segment. By the equator of the quarter, Astana for the first time in the match reached a double-digit advantage, thanks to free throws from Adonis Thomas. The hosts did their best to turn the game around and with forty-five seconds left they were losing only three points. Jeremiah Hill did not disappoint and Astana was again leading by five points. Another time-out of the Estonian coaching staff did not give the desired result, and Michael Thompson, who realized two free throws, put an end to this game — 85:92.
Most productive:
- «Kalev» — Markus Keene, who gave our team hard time with his precise three-pointers, scored 23 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Devin Thomas made a couple of highlights in this game and scored 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Chavon Lewis has 16 points and 5 assists.
- «Astana» demonstrated a good team game and six players scored more than 10 points at once. Michael Thompson has 17 points and 9 assists; Martins Meyers has 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Jeremiah Hill became the most effective in both teams — 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Devin Marble earned 12 points and 5 rebounds, Oyars Silins also scored 12 points, and Adonis Thomas chalked up 11 points and 4 rebounds.
«Kalev» head coach — Roberts Stelmahers:
- Today we lacked rotation — we didn't have a few players. It is not easy to play the 4th match in 9 days with an incomplete roster. Of course, the players are tired, but I'm not making excuses. We have to play smart if we want to win the United League.
«Astana» head coach — Emil Rajkovic:
- We controlled the pace of the game, did not rush to make decisions and knew what we were doing. This is a very important victory for us after a long period when we only play away games, this was the first game in our full roster, and I am glad that I see potential in our team. We can improve our game and do more.
Consequences: Astana after this victory returned to the playoff zone, rising to the eighth line and ahead of Zielona Gora and Khimki, and Kalev, without victories this season, is at the bottom of the table.
Next match: On November 9 and 10, the capital's basketball players will play a series of matches in the framework of the regular championship of the National League, in which the team of the Aktobe basketball club will play as their rival. The next VTB United League match Emil Rajkovic's players will play at home against Yenisei Krasnoyarsk, the game will take place on November 14 at the «Saryarka» Cycling Track arena.
Detailed information about the tournament, tournament tables, schedule and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
