Avtodor defeated Kalev at home, 90-63 (21-19, 21-16, 24-12, 24-16).
Top Scorers
Avtodor: Vince Hunter (17+6 reb), Nick Minnerath (15+5 reb), Marquise Teague (12)
Kalev: Demonte Harper (18+5 reb+5 ast), Cedric Simmons (14+5 reb)
Turning Point
Kalev started strong in the 3rd quarter, thanks to six straight points from recent acquisition Cedric Simmons and a Demonte Harper 3-pointer. Avtodor’s seven-point halftime lead dropped to two, 46-44. But the Estonians couldn’t maintain the momentum.
Over the next four and a half minutes, Avtodor kept the visitors scoreless and steadily rebuilt the advantage, capped by an alley-oop dunk to Nick Minnerath and Evgeny Kolesnikov steal and fast-break layup (62-47). Kalev’s Alar Varrak tried to refocus his team with a timeout, but the damage was done. Avtodor cruised to victory over the final 10+ minutes, ultimately winning by 27.
Thanks to the win, Saratov catches Kalev in the standings (both are now 2-7). Sergei Bykov also made his VTB United League for Avtodor.
Stat
42 – Avtodor got a lot of points from the bench, which scored nearly half of the team’s points.
Quotes
Avtodor head coach Sergei Mokin:
– Defense won today. We broke down Kalev’s game in detail. Our players executed the coach’s game plan extremely well and showed persistence on defense. A big thank-you to them. Thanks to our solid play on defense, we managed to score easy points on offense.
With Bykov’s arrival, the team has more confidence. We got an experienced player in Sergei, a real master. Why did Kolyushkin only enter the game with four minutes remaining? That’s how the game went today. We had 10 players involved and everyone did well. That’s the only reason. It’s rare that we get to play more guys than that.
Why didn’t we shoot much from outside? It wasn’t part of the game plan. It’s just that we were aggressive on a lot of possessions and had quick transitions leading to dunks and layups.
Kalev head coach Alar Varrak:
– Everyone knows Avtodor can run. Our challenge was to slow the game down. But in the 3rd quarter, when the score was 46-44, we committed three turnovers and missed some shots on offense, allowing the home team to go on a 10-o run and push the lead to 12. That was the turning point. We lost the game in those two minutes. After that, we couldn’t get going again. Avtodor gained confidence, the Saratov fans got loud, and they got on a roll.
Up Next
Avtodor: December 17 vs. UNICS
Kalev: December 22 vs. Khimki
Snapshot
