The away match of the basketball club «Astana» against Krasnoyarsk «Yenisey» was held in the best traditions of the thriller genre, during which the initiative repeatedly passed from one to another in an uncompromising struggle.
The jump ball remained with the hosts, but both teams failed to realize their first attacks. The score in the match was opened by the Krasnoyarsk team in their second attack, while “Astana” was in no hurry to score its first points. The first score was shot by Martins Meyers, who was accurate from the free-throw line, one and a half minutes after the start of the match. In the next attack, Michael Thompson scored the first three-pointer for our team, which brought the yellow-turquoise forward. In the remaining minutes of the first quarter, the hosts obviously slowed down in their game, and only our players — Thomas, Meyers and Silins demonstrated efficiency. At the equator of the first quarter, “Astana” was in the lead by 9 points. The Krasnoyarsk team finally interrupted their goalless pause, but by that time Adonis Thomas had already made the advantage of our team double-digit. The hosts spent the remaining time in the first quarter more successfully. Despite active pressing and effective attacks by Devin Marble and Jeremiah Hill, “Enisey” significantly reduced the gap and lost the first period with a three-point difference — 19:22. In the second quarter, the hosts in the first attack reduced the gap to a minimum, after which the game pattern changed markedly. The tense situation on the floor provoked the players of both teams to make multiple mistakes, and it was extremely difficult to score points. Closer to the middle of the period, “Enisey” was able to catch up with our team and equalize the score, but Michael Thompson again brought “Astana” ahead, though not for long. The opponents realized a three-pointer and took the lead for the first time in the quarter. A minute later, Ojars Silins scored his three-pointer and “Astana” again seized the initiative. Devin Marble consolidated our position, who was also accurate from the paint. The coaching staff of Krasnoyarsk took a time-out, but the hosts could not change the course of the game after it. “Astana”, although not by much, was in the lead until the end of the first half, and the final score of the first half was set by Jeremiah Hill — 35:39.
It is evident that our team did not have a comfortable advantage, and this was immediately proved by our rivals, having reduced the gap to one point at the start of the third period. “Enisey” was very active in the first minutes after the long break, they were especially good at long-range shots. Two minutes later from the beginning of the third quarter, “Astana” was already losing five points. Now our basketball players were catching up, while they did not allow their rivals to break away even more, but they could not catch up with them. When in the sixth minute of the quarter “Yenisey” realized another attack and was in the lead by six points, Emil Rajkovic had to intervene and used his time-out. After a tactical pause until the end of the quarter, “Enisey” was able to organize only one effective three-pointer, and this turned out to be the only successful attack of the opponents during this time. Meanwhile, Silins, Gavrilov and Tomas were very effective in our squad, and Hill at the very end of the period again brought the Kazakh team forward — 53:54. Such a struggle predicted a very nervous and intriguing ending, and the first minutes of the final quarter proved this. “Yenisey” managed to take the lead once again, but Meyers quickly brought back the leadership to “Astana”. Bazhin, five minutes before the end of the match, brought the advantage to four points, and after a three-pointer from Ojars Silins, the teams were already divided by five points. In the next two and a half minutes, the players of “Astana” got themselves into a difficult situation, when their lead of five points was replaced by a lag of seven just 47 seconds before the final buzzer. Emil Rajkovic again took a minute break to try to fix a difficult situation. Jeremiah Hill sent an alley-up to Meyers, who, in turn, delivered the ball to the goal. Jeremiah continued to be active, forcing opponents to make a loss and shooting from a long distance. The ball did not reach the goal, but Martins was on the safe side and scored two more points. With 22 seconds left, “Astana” was losing only three points and the time-out was already used by the rivals' mentor. Jeremiah did not trying and made an important steal in 12 seconds, sent his team to the attack. We would be only satisfied with an accurate three-pointer, while “Yenisey” had the opportunity to foul and send our player to the penalty line, where he could make only two throws, which naturally was not part of our team's plans. Still, a player from the opposing camp fouled with five seconds left, but it turned out to be very tough. The referees went to watch the video repeat of the moment, and it was essential because if they give an unsportsmanlike foul, then in addition to two free throws from Michael Thompson, the possession will remain with our team. Everything was in our favour, the referees gave an unsportsmanlike foul to the player of “Yenisey”, and Thompson was twice accurate from the free-throw line and there were still five seconds left to attack and the gap was only one point. Meyers got the ball and made a difficult fadeaway shot, the ball treacherously bounced off the rim but did not fall into the basket, and no one was on the safe side — 77:76 — a lost victory.
Consequences: «Astana» remains on the tenth line of the standings and still lags behind the playoff zone, and the second victory of “Yenisey» in the season allows them to move up a line and leave the last place.
Most productive:
- «Enisey» — Tayus Battle became the most effective and efficient player of the whole game — 22 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists. Dustin Hoge scored a double-double — 13 points, 12 rebounds.
- «Astana» — Adonis Thomas scored 15 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists. Martins Meyers also earned 15 points and added 6 rebounds and a block-shot to this. On account of Ojars Silins, there are 11 points and 7 rebounds. Michael Thompson scored 9 points, made 3 rebounds, 6 assists. Jeremiah Hill had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
The head coach of «Astana» — Emil Rajkovic:
- It is very difficult to lose in such games, especially when you are in control of the game. For 25 minutes, our actions on the court were logical and meaningful. However, at the end of the game, for one reason or another, we lost concentration in defence, made mistakes, and this was one of the main reasons for the defeat.
The head coach of «Yenisey» — Drazen Anzulovic:
- I congratulate my players on the victory. This is a great victory for us, especially after the problems we had during the season. I cannot say that I am satisfied with the quality of the game shown. However, my players deserve respect for the desire, passion and struggle that they showed on the court. But at the same time, it must be said that objectively now we are not able to gain the necessary physical level of the game in order to show the game that I would be happy with. Thanks to the fans for coming to the game. We were able to win this match thanks to you. Thank you again for supporting the team!
Next match: In connection with the restrictive measures introduced in the capital, the home series of the capital team against the «Almaty Legion» within the framework of the National League, scheduled for January 26 and 27, will be held in Shchuchinsk at the neutral site of the «Zhaksy 2» sports base. The next rival of the capital's team in the VTB United League is «Avtodor» from Saratov, which will meet again on January 31 in Nur-Sultan.
Detailed information about the tournament, tournament tables, schedule, and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
