Moscow MBA defeated Krasnoyarsk’s Enisey on the road – 106–99 (2OT) (24–18, 19–28, 17–18, 19–15, 11–11, 16–9)
Main Story
The visitors grabbed 5 offensive rebounds in the first 2 minutes of the game. A two-to-one advantage in field goal attempts allowed the Muscovites to control the pace of the opening quarter, but by the end of it, the lead had narrowed to just “+6.” The MBA players made only 1 of 13 two-point attempts, while the hosts recorded 5 blocks.
Enisey stepped up its effort on the boards under its own basket in the second 10-minute period, and it paid off. By the middle of the quarter, the Krasnoyarsk team had managed to take the lead. The Moscow team’s struggles with offensive efficiency in the paint were compounded by poor accuracy from the free-throw line—8 out of 16.
The Clutch Moment
After a closely contested third quarter, the outcome of the game came down to the final stretch. MBA went on an 8-0 run, but Enisey quickly regained the lead thanks to efforts by Egor Vanin and Charles Callison. Pavel Savkov managed to send the game into overtime but missed the chance to secure a victory in regulation when he missed one of two free throws in the final seconds.
The first overtime ended with a tense series of free throws. Evgeny Belyankov grabbed a crucial offensive rebound after Callison’s miss, but on the other end of the court, Danil Pevnev made 3 out of 3 from the line, tying the score once again. In the second 5-minute period, the home team ran out of steam. MBA reached the 100-point mark and secured a hard-fought victory.
X-Factor
Danil Pevnev set new personal records for points (33) and rebounds (18) and reached the 300-rebound mark in the VTB League. He leads the league in rebounds this season and ranks second in scoring.
Interesting Facts
Sergey Dolinin set a new career-high with 20 points.
Ivan Belousov reached the 100-rebound mark in the league and set a new personal record in that category (8).
MBA took the season lead in offensive rebounds with 29.
Callison had his highest-scoring game in the VTB League—31 points (12-for-23 from the field, 4-for-11 from beyond the arc).
Enisey posted its best result of the season in team blocks—10.
Press Conference
— Enisey Head Coach Jovica Arsić: “We’ve had four losses, three of which came down to the wire. We’re making the wrong decisions at key moments.
In the first half, MBA grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds, but after halftime we were able to correct that issue. However, we started having trouble making our long-range shots.
Toward the end of the first overtime, we practically had the game won, but we committed a bad foul, and then what happened, happened. We’ll keep working, and I hope we’ll learn the right lessons from this loss.”
MBA Head Coach Sergey Voznyuk: “It’s hard to say right now because there are so many emotions after two overtimes. I’d like to highlight my players’ character: they showed it today and won in such a close finish.
We struggled in the second quarter, primarily on defense. We let Enisey feel more at ease, didn’t defend the pick-and-roll well, and allowed our opponent to score easy points. They scored 28 points in that quarter—that’s a lot, and we have to give them credit for that.
Otherwise, we were constantly adjusting our lineup and trying to gain an advantage over our opponent, which is exactly what we’d been working on. I’m pleased with our offensive rebounding: we gave it our all and fought hard for the ball. But the number of missed free throws is concerning. If we’d made even half of the ones we missed, we could have contended for a win in regulation. But most importantly, we closed out the game. We came here solely for the win, and we achieved the best possible result.”
Top Performers
Enisey: Charles Callison (31), Sergey Dolinin (20), Ivan Belousov (16 + 8 rebounds), Egor Vanin (11)
MBA: Danil Pevnev (33 + 18 rebounds), Pavel Savkov (18), Dmitry Sonko (15), Andrei Malinin (14), Maxim Ogarkov (13 + 7 rebounds)
Up Next
Enisey: November 7 at home against Dynamo
MBA: November 7 on the road against Uralmash.
