Enisey beat Samara at home – 72:65 (18:13, 27:12, 6:21, 21:19).
The best scorers
Enisey: Angelo Warner (15), James Thompson (12 + 12 rebounds), Aleksandr Gudumak (9 + 5 rebounds), Timofey Gerasimov (8 + 10 rebounds + 6 assists)
Samara: Marcos Knight (11 + 8 rebounds), Malcolm Thomas (10 + 5 rebounds), Jordan Theodore (7 + 8 assists).
Game progress
Before the game, Enisey had 3 wins, 13 losses and the 10th place in the standings, Samara (6-10) was in the playoff zone at the 7th place. In the first game of the teams, the Volga team won in overtime (92:86).
The Krasnoyarsk team took the lead from the first minutes. The hosts played well in defense, had good ball movement without turnovers and tried to score from the paint. The game advantage turned into a solid lead already in the second quarter, when Grigoriy Motovilov and Angelo Warner managed to score several times in a row. Enisey began to increase the lead with the help of one roster. In the first half, the Siberian team made 12 of 16 from the paint and also had 14 assists with only 2 turnovers. The Volga team often tried to score three-pointers, but the percentage was poor. And the team had 11 turnovers. At the halftime, Enisey led 45:25.
In a recent game with Pari Nizhny Novgorod, the Krasnoyarsk team led by 16, but eventually lost. The third quarter forced Enisey fans to remember that game. The Siberian team completely could not score – 6 points in 10 minutes. Samara successfully started to score threes and made a good work in the paint. The guests had the advantage in the third quarter and returned to the game before the fourth quarter – 46:51.
In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Aleksandr Gudumak and Warner took advantage with drives in the paint, which returned confidence to Enisey. At some point, the Krasnoyarsk team had a double-digit lead again, but last seconds of the game was a stress. Maksim Barashkov and Marcos Knight made three-pointers brought the game to the clutch – 64:59, Enisey still led.
The key moment
In the last minutes, Enisey and Samara missed shots a lot, but for the Krasnoyarsk team it was even better. In addition, Warner ends this with his drive with a floater — 70:63.
The Volga team fought to the end, but this time the Siberian team held the lead. The game ended with alley-oop on James Thompson: the hosts broke the full court defense and did not allow the opponent to made a foul.
Hero
James Thompson. The bigman helped Enisey both in defense and offense to get ahead and keep the lead in the end. The American scored 12 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists with 4 of 8 from the game.
Numbers
1 – Enisey won in the tense ending for the first time in the season and beat the League Russian team for the first time in the season.
What’s next
Enisey: road game against Zenit on December 23.
Samara: home game versus Nizhny Novgorod on December 22.
