Samara beat Astana at home – 91:57 (21:18, 20:14, 27:14, 23:11).

Game progress
Samara came out for the 2nd consecutive home game before the 3-match road series focused on winning. The guests forward Danila Pokhodiaev was a three-pointer away from reaching 100 in VTB League. The forward scored long-range shot on Astana first offensive possession. Then he made 2 more in the quarter.

Good defense by Samara front court kept the guests from taking an early lead. The hosts locked Markell Johnson tightly and were able to take the lead after a three-pointer by Anton Kardanakhishvili at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter had similar scenario. The hosts felt more confident in the paint and generally better used chances. Markell Johnson made 5 of 10 shots scoring 13 points and prevented the teams from going into halftime with a double-digit score difference.

In the third quarter, Daniel Utomi started to gain some momentum, but it didn’t help the guests. Samara center Ilia Popov had the biggest impact. He led the team in scoring (17) and rebounding (10) through 3 quarters.

Key moment
The third quarter secured the hosts lead (27:14). Six players made 1 or more three-pointers. Kardanakhishvili made career-high 4 long-range shots.
Markell Johnson, on the other hand, stopped at 23 points scored despite 22 attempted shots.

Samara confidently carried the match to victory with a 34-point lead.

X-factor
Samara made 15 of 29 three-point shots (51.7%).

Facts
The score of head-to-head games is 6:3, Samara leads.

Astana has the worst start of the season (0/8). The Kazakh team also continues to lose all first quarters and first halves of games in this VTB League season.

Markell Johnson scored 23 points and will retain his big scoring average. He had the same 23 points in 3 games after recovering from injury.

Leaders
Samara: Ronnie Harrell (19 + 5 rebounds + 3 steals), Ilia Popov (17 + 11 rebounds), Brendan Adams (14 + 5 assists), Anton Kardanakhishvili (12).
Astana: Markell Johnson (23), Daniel Utomi (10).

What’s next
Samara: October 27 on the road against PARMA
Astana: October 23 at home versus Enisey.