Enisey on the road defeated Astana — 87:80 OT (18:28, 16:7, 12:21, 24:14, 17:10).
The best scorers
Astana: Jaylen Barford (26 + 8 rebounds), Antonio Campbell (17 + 5 rebounds), Anthony Hickey (11 + 6-speed + 6 steals), Skylar Spencer (5, 12 rebounds)
Enisey: Rion Brown (20) Alexandr Gudumak (19) Vladislav Trushkin (16 + 6 rebounds), Casper Ware (15 + 5 assists).
Game progress
From the very first possession, the teams showed their offensive spirit. The hosts looked more confident. By tradition, American legionnaires set the tone for them. Anthony Hickey dispersed the offense, Antonio Campbell confidently threw from behind the arc, and Jaylen Barford carefully realized his moments. They scored 23 points for three in the 1st quarter, which provided Astana with a double-digit advantage – 28:18.
But the 2nd quarter Enisey time has came. The basis of the Siberian team comeback was defense. The guests turned on zone defense, began to switching and stopped conceding to the opponent in 1 on 1 game. As a result, during the quarter, Astana was able to realize only 2 shots from the game. However, the poor percentage of open three-pointers did not allow the Krasnoyarsk team to make the most of their possibility. At the end of the 2nd quarter, they were able to even the score, but the hosts still left in the role of leader for a halftime – 35:34.
Barford’s fastbreaks and individual skill allowed Astana to surprisingly easily make a 9-point run at the start of the 3rd quarter. However, after that, the game again assumed a viscous positional character. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, did not score even simple shots from under the rim and could not please the audience with high performance. Such a course of the game was in the Kazakh team players. Before the final segment of the game, the yellow and blue retained a double-digit advantage in the score – 56:46.
The teams did not change in the 4th quarter. In a slow game, it seemed that the yellow-blues would calmly bring the game to win. But at the last minute, the Siberians gave acceleration. Vladislav Trushkin’s 3-pointer and 2 fouls from Alexandr Gudumak reduced Ensiey’s gap to one shot – 67:70. And after the hosts’ mistake when entering the ball, this shot was made by Rion Brown – 70:70.
OEVRTIME ALERT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/VinPvJRjqy
— VTB League (@VTBUL) December 10, 2021
The key moment
The game went into overtime. This season, the Siberian team have already lost 2 in additional segment of the game. But then Vladislav Trushkin was not in their composition. His 3-pointer in the last minute of the game that brought Enisey lead by 5 points – 83:73. And then the newcomer of the guests provoked Astana’s forward Mark Tikhonenko to make a turnover with his aggressive defense. The Kazakh team players tried to get some tactical fouls. But Casper Ware and Rion Brown were accurate from the free-throw line, bringing such a long-awaited win to Enisey.
This success allowed the Siberian team to break the 5 losses streak. Enisey caught up with Astana in the standings and have 2 wins in 7 games and share the 9th-10th places.
Hero
In this game, there were enough heroes in the Siberian team. So, Rion Brown not only moved the game to overtime, but also updated the personal best in points (20 points). Alexandr Gudumak also pleased with the points scored, repeating his bersonal best in points too (19 points). In the extra 5 minutes, Casper Ware scored important shots.
Numbers
3 – Ensiey finishes the 3rd game out of 7 in overtime. And for the first time this season, the Siberian team won in the overtime.
Comments
Darko Russo, Astana Head Coach:
– Unfortunately, we lost the game. I do not know how many points you need to score a minute before the end to win. 50 seconds before the end, we led by 6 points, but Enisey managed to even the score. When we played fast and made quick decisions, we scored easy points in a fastbreak. When we slowed down the game, tried to act effectively, we gave Enisey the opportunity to return to the game. I am very upset because we had to win.
Drazen Anzulovic, Enisey Head Coach:
– Congratulations to my team, this is a big win for us. It is always difficult to play against Astana on their home court, especially this season. We approached this game with respect and hoped to win. We didn’t start the game the way we wanted, especially in defense. In the 2nd quarter everything was perfect, we controlled the course of the game, and in the third we had problems again. We showed character and fighting spirit, got back into the game and got an important win for us.
What’s next
Astana: road game against PARMA-PARIMATCH On December 19
Enisey: home game versus Tsmoki-Minsk on December 18