MBA defeated Samara at home — 71:60 (18:19, 17:21, 28:12, 8:8).
The best scorers
MBA: Timofey Yakushin (13 points + 5 assists), Evgeny Voronov (12), Ilya Platonov (10), Daniil Kasatkin (9 + 5 rebounds + 3 steals), Andrey Lopatin (9 + 9 rebounds)
Samara: Marcos Knight (18 + 9 rebounds), KC Rivers (10 + 5 rebounds)
Game progress
The United League newcomers are still confidently holding in the Top-8 and MBA continues to be in the Top 3. At the same time, unpleasant news came from the Moscow team — one of the leading players at the start of the season Aleksandr Khomenko has a long-term knee injury.
The game was tough from the very first minutes. The hosts managed to take the control, Samara did not allow MBA to increase the lead. The guests equalised the score with Maksim Barashkov and KC Rivers three-pointers and at the end of the first quarter, Barashkov managed to put Samara ahead – a 10:0 run by the Volga forced MBA to start all over again.
The second quarter also did not allow MBA to get ahead. The Moscow team tried to reduce the difference, but Samara replied with a three-pointer by Maksim Sheleketo, then with Markos Knight made shots and by their own turnovers. By the halftime, the guests continued to hold the lead — 40:35.
The key moment
The situation changed dramatically after in the second half. The teams had poor shooting percentages, but then MBA began to reduce the difference. Daniil Kasatkin three-pointer and Andrey Lopatin dunk helped MBA to equalise the score — 40:40.
The leader of the game changed a lot, and then the hosts finally started to score. Ilya Platonov initiated an 11:0 run, which immediately made MBA lead double—digit – 57:46. The rest of the game was tight , the teams unsuccessfully tried to break each other defensive line, which was good for the hosts, who ha a 10-point lead until the end of the game. Having 9th win in 13 games, MBA continues to fight with Zenit for the Top-3 spot.
Hero
Andrey Lopatin. Although MBA forward did not score a lot, he was stable throughout the game, almost made a double-double, had 3 assists and 2 steals and became the leader of the team in efficiency – 19 points.
Numbers
28 points scored in the 3rd quarter – this run helped MBA to win the game.
What’s next
MBA: road game against Avtodor on December 3
Samara: road game versus PARMA-PARI on December 2
