Enisey defeated Astana at home, 88-78 (27-15, 20-20, 21-18, 20-25).
Top Scorers
Enisey: Tony Taylor (21+6 ast), Andrey Koshcheev (13), Suleiman Braimoh (11+6 reb), Anthony Hilliard (10)
Astana: Ian Miller (31+7 ast), Leonidas Kaselakis (16+6 reb), Rod Odom (13+6 reb)
Build-Up
Enisey had won five of six entering the game and could virtually clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win on Sunday.
Astana was also streaking at the right time, boasting a 3-1 record since mid-February. Trailing Enisey by a game in the standings, the Kazakhs needed a win to stay in control of the 8th and final playoff spot.
Turning Point
Astana stumbled out of the gate, missing its first five 3-pointers and allowing Enisey to stake an early 22-12 lead.
Ian Miller, who finished with a game-high 31 points, finally got one to drop from beyond the arc late in the 1st quarter, cutting the deficit to seven. But Krasnoyarsk scored the final five points in the period, making it 27-15 through 10 minutes.
Enisey went on to score the first four points of the 2nd quarter and led by as much as 19 in the first half.
Miller tried to keep his men in the game. He scored seven quick points to start the 3rd quarter that got Astana within seven, 51-44, but the visitors would never threaten again.
Enisey led by 15 at the end of three and went on to win by 10. With the victory, Krasnoyarsk improves to 11-10, needing one more win or an Avtodor loss to clinch a playoff berth.
Astana drops to 9-12 and moves on to next week’s huge showdown against 9th-place Nizhny Novgorod.
Stat
9 – Enisey outscored Astana by nine points over two games this season (Astana won the first meeting by one point on Rob Lowery’s double-overtime buzzer-beater). If tied at the end of the season, Enisey will have the tiebreaker.
Quotes
Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
– There were mistakes, like any game. But we did our job today. Our defense slowed Astana down, at least when we went to zone.
We asked our guys to be as aggressive as possible from the beginning and they did that. The mistakes we made didn’t prevent us from winning.
Astana head coach Ilias Papatheodorou:
– Congratulations to Enisey on the win. Enisey, in my opinion, is clearly one of the top six teams in the League. But Krasnoyarsk didn’t have to try very hard today because we simply didn’t come out prepared. This was the worst we’ve played all season. Some of our guys evidentally decided the season’s over. I need an explanation from them. We still have three tough games remaining and our most important goal is to battle for a playoff spot until the very end.
Video
Up Next
Enisey: April 9 vs. VEF
Astana: April 9 at Nizhny Novgorod
