CSKA beat Enisey on the road – 90:81 (22:22, 22:11, 22:22, 25:25).
Top scorers:
Enisey: Leyton Hammonds (20 + 7 rebounds), Tyus Battle (17 + 5 assists), Jordan Mathews (12).
CSKA: Joel Bolomboy (21), Darrun Hilliard (20), Daniel Hackett (17 + 6 rebounds), Nikita Kurbanov (11).
Story
CSKA came to Krasnoyarsk having 2 consecutive defeats. In addition, Mike James, Will Clyburn, Nikola Milutinov and Tornike Shengelia didn’t play. The Siberians found the rhythm in recent games and had 3-game winning streak. However, CSKA still were the front-runners.
CSKA started to prove themselves from the very beginning. Darrun Hilliard hit a couple of threes and brought the lead to CSKA – 8:0. Anyway, the hosts pulled themselves together quickly. Leyton Hammonds hit a few threes confidently and evened the game. By the seconds quarter the score was 22:22.
In the second quarter CSKA defense made the difference. Tight and careful defense helped CSKA take the initiative despite struggling offense. Moscow led by Darrun Hilliard and Joel Bolomboy gained double digit lead, 44:33 by the half time.
В Красноярске сейчас жара: «Енисей» старается обыграть ЦСКА, а @tyusbattle1 и Джоэль Боломбой спорят, чей путбэк круче 🧐 pic.twitter.com/RBc5vrOLVW
— VTB League (@VTBUL) February 10, 2021
Tight game remained in the second half as well. It was emotional, there were lots of fouls. However, none of the teams managed to pace up.
This situation was in guests’ favor. CSKA were keeping double digit lead. In the fourth quarter the Siberians tried to come back but unsuccessfully because of Ivan Ukhov threes and Joel Bolomboy efforts. As a result, CSKA made it to the confident victory breaking 2-game losing streak.
Hero
Joel Bolomboy became the brightest player on winners’ roster. The center hit 8 from 12 from the field, scored 21 points and became the most efficient player of the game (22).
Stat
13 – number of points scored by CSKA consecutively. This run was the key for the victory as then hosts couldn’t catch up with opponents.
Comments
Enisey head coach Drazen Anzulovich:
– I want to congratulate CSKA. When you play against contenders you should play smart and control the game if you want to win. We couldn’t do it tonight. Few our key players didn’t show proper basketball. I can’t blame my players for lack of dedication, all 40 minutes long we were trying to even the game. We tried, but we are lacking quality of basketball to do it.
CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
– I want to congratulate my team. It was a battle. I said in the locker room before and after the game that it would be the day to remember. Nothing comes easy. Sometimes it seems like it’s default thing but everything you achieve is a result of hard work. Despite the circumstances that we faced, injuries, jet lag, tough schedule, we are still the team and fight for the victory.
Next
Enisey: February 27 @ Lokomotiv-Kuban
CSKA: February 13 vs Zenit
Photo
