Astana lost to Zenit in the match of the VTB United League.
The match was held at the Saryarka cycle track on Orthodox Christmas Day and ended with a score of 93:75 in favor of the guests.
Astana did not start the game very well; however, in the second and third quarters, they imposed a fight on the current champion of the VTB United League. At some point, the gap was reduced to -9, but in the end, the club from St. Petersburg took the upper hand in the game and won a landslide victory.
Oleg Kiselev especially noted Thomas Ertel (23 points, 13 assists, KPI 28). «He played well today, conducted the team's game, handed out passes, and also scored himself,» said the Kazakh coach.
Daniil Aksenov (19 points), Kwame Vaughn, and Valery Likhodey (15 points each) stood out in Astana.
«First of all, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We started the game well; in the first quarter, we were effective both in defense and offense. In the second and third quarters, Astana began to play better, the game evened out, and it became harder for us. We finally found opportunities to turn the game around in the fourth quarter and win the match. I wish Astana all the best, especially the coach; he did a great job.» — said the head coach of Zenit, Javier Pascual, after the game.
The next match of Astana will take place on January 11, and the team of Oleg Kiselyov will play at home with Minsk. Tickets are on sale at
Zakazbiletov.kz.
Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
