«Astana» from Kazakhstan beat Belarusian «Tsmoki-Minsk» in the away game — 93:86 (17:17, 27:20, 17:23, 32:26)
An equal course of the game was broken in the middle of the second quarter when Astana made a success in its own half of the court, while Anthony Clemmons and Michael Jenkins accurate shots gave a chance to take the lead in the game — 44:37.
The most interesting thing happened in the fourth quarter when «Tsmoki» managed to reduce the gap to the minimum. And yet “Astana” had the last word in the game. 3 minutes before the buzzer, Alexander Zhigulin impressed with a spectacular block-shot. Inspired guests led by Clemmons spurted into the lead. The American player long-distance shot exactly one minute before the end (84:76) practically left no chance for the Belarusians to make any change. Have been losing the first two home games, the club from Kazakhstan won the first victory on the road.
Top scorers:
Hero: Anthony Clemmons. The most reliable option in the attack of “Astana”, Clemmons took the initiative at the most crucial moment and became the most productive at the end of the match — 23 points.
Figure: 17 — the number of assists for»Astana», only 10 for Belarusians.
Alexander Krutikov, »Tsmoki Minsk» head coach:
- You know, we practice together, and in the game, we simply forget the combinations. There were very offensive ball losses, although 13 losses are not so much, still, 3-4 of them were fatal. We played bad on the rebounds. On Wednesday we are playing in the FIBA Cup, and I don’t even know what we will do with such a leaky defense.
Astana head coach Emil Raykovich:
- It was a tough game. Tsmoki demonstrated good basketball. Probably, our guys at the end showed a little more character, got a couple of important shots. We were lucky a little more, and we won this game. Congratulations to my players, this is an important victory for us.
The next match within the VTB United League of «Astana» will be held at home, on October 21, the capital basketball players will receive «Zenit» from St. Petersburg.
