Astana beat PARMA-PARI at home – 84:72 (21:21, 21:12, 27:24, 15:15).
The best scorers
Astana: Michael Myers (18 + 9 rebounds), Daniil Aksenov (18), Valery Likhodey (17 + 5 assists).
PARMA-PARI: Pavel Antipov (19 + 6 rebounds), Justin Roberson (15), Malik Dime (10 + 8 rebounds + 2 blocks).
Game progress
Astana started with two losses, PARMA-PARI had 1-1.
The first quarter was equal, the maximum advantage of one of the teams was 5 points. Michael Myers set the tone for the hosts, the guests relied on team play – 21:21 after 10 minutes. Then, the teams slowed down a bit. Astana recovered and with Valery Likhodey actions made a 9:0 run and took the lead. The Perm team managed to stabilize the situation, but atthe end of 10 minutes, the Kazakhastan team made a 6:0 run (PARMA-PARI was limited to 12 points) and break away by 9 points by the halftime. With a generally equal game, the hosts got advanteage in rebounds – 19-11.
In the second quarter Vadim Shcherbak and Likhodey scored from behind the arc – Astana caught courage (the first miss from a long distance in the second half happened only in the middle of the fourth quarter). The Kazakh team got effective Myers in the paint. At the end of the third quarter, the hosts’ lead was 18 points. After Evgeniy Pashutin timeout, with Justin Roberson and Pavel Antipov efforts, reduced the gap to 12 points, retaining hope of come back.
The key moment
A few minutes before the final, Antipov made another attempt score and revive the intrigue (68:79). Astana responded with Deondre Parks lay-up and then Igor Kanygin scored 3 points in a row (84:68). The Kazakhstan team did not let the Perm team to make a comeback and Astana won the first game in the new season.
Hero
Valery Likhodey. The Russian helped Astana to make a lead and win. The forward scored 17 points with 7 of 9 from the game, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in 34 minutes.
Numbers
240 – so many days have passed since Astana’s last win in the VTB League (on February 15, the Kazakhstan team beat Lokomotiv Kuban).
What’s next
Astana: rpad game against UNICS on October 16.
PARMA-PARI: home game versus Lokomotiv Kuban on October 18.
