Astana defeated MINSK at home and ended losing streak – 86:82 (29:15, 14:26, 24:12, 19:29).
Game progress
Astana (4-19) and MINSK (1-21) had the last places in the Group B. Half of the Kazakh team wins were against MINSK, the last one was on January 11.
Astana started with a 20:6 run – Valery Likhodey and Kwame Vaughn made 2 out of 2 threes. MINSK turned the game around in the second quarter. Newcomer of the team DaQuan Bracey helped the Minsk team with 9 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in the first half. Having won back 12 points in the second quarter, the guests returned the intrigue – 43:41.
The pause helped Astana. Likhodey initiated a new run and returned confidence to the Kazakh team. This time the forward had Markell Johnson help. In the third quarter, the American scored 7 points, including a buzzer-beater three-pointer, which allowed the hosts to lead by 14 points before the fourth quarter.
Key moment
The Belarusian team managed to make a second comeback with 2 three-pointers by Jovan Sljivancanin at the end of the quarter – an unexpected 8:0 run. Astana did not recover after two timeouts, but MINSK lacked of time to get closer to win. 4.6 seconds before the end, Johnson missed both free-throws while the team led by 2, but Michael Myers took the offensive rebound. The bigman scored both and helped Astana to win.
The Kazakh team ended a 3-game losing streak and MINSK has 12 losses in a row.
Key factor
Valery Likhodey. Already at the end of three quarters, Valery had 18 points, which allowed him to get a season high. In the fourth, the forward mdid not score, but continued to help Astana. Likhodey also has 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block.
Fact
Astana recently parted ways with Daniil Aksenov, who was one of the leaders of the team. MINSK strengthened the backcourt with DaQuan Bracey. The playmaker finished the previous season in the Czech League, averaging 14.3 points and 3.6 assists per game.
Already in the debut game in the League, the American became the best guests player (17 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals), but this was not enough to win.
Leaders
Astana: Kwame Vaughn (22), Valery Likhodey (18 + 6 rebounds), Markell Johnson (14 + 7 rebounds + 5 assists), Michael Myers (8 + 7 rebounds).
MINSK: Jovan Sljivancanin (21 + 8 rebounds), DaQuan Bracey (17 + 6 assists + 3 steals), Zach Smith (14 + 6 rebounds), Darol Hernandez-Zinenko (10 + 8 rebounds).
Next games
Astana: road game against Samara on February 15.
MINSK: home game versus Enisey on February 4 .
