Russian PARMA turned out to be stronger than Belarusian Tsmoki-Minsk – 78:75 (24:21, 19:16, 15:20, 20:18).
The best scorers
Tsmoki-Minsk: Yaiheni Beliankou (20 + 5 rebounds), Angelo Warner (15 + 5 rebounds + 7 assists), Jason Clark (10).
PARMA: Mareks Mejeris (23 + 5 rebounds), Eigirdas Zhukauskas (14 + 7 rebounds).
Game progress
Before the game, Tsmoki had a series of two losses in a row, while PARMA has not yet played a single game in the VTB United League this season. The Minsk team had to correct a difficult situation without two centers in the squad at once – Robert Upshaw and Vadzim Stubeda could not take part in the game due to injuries.
From the very first minutes, a heated struggle ensued on the floor: the Perm Krai squad responded to a series of long-range shots by the Belarusian duo Bliznyuk-Beliankou with 10 points in a row performed by Eigirdas Zhukauskas – 15:15. After a shock start, the teams slowed down and switched to viscous positional basketball. Jeremiah Hill put the point in the first quarter with the crazy three-pointer over the defender – 24:21 PARMA led.
The beginning of the second 10 minutes did not reveal a clear leader: the teams still relied on shots from behind the arc, alternately upsetting each other with hits. The turning point in the equal game was outlined by the middle of the game. First, Artem Zabelin scored 2 free-throws, and after that Konstantin Bulanov and Marcel Ponitka supported their teammate with accurate 2-pointers, then PARMA’s advantage became double-digit for the first time – 43:31. In the remaining time, Tsmoki-Minsk noticeably increased in defense, not allowing the Perm team to score points for 2,5 minutes. However, Minsk players failed to significantly reduce the gap – 43:37 the guests were ahead after the first half.
The hosts started the third 10 minutes with a 7-point run, but Mareks Mejeris’ three-point shot returned PARMA to the lead. Throughout almost the entire quarter, the guests continued to stay ahead, but Tsmoki did not let the opponent go further than 5-8 points. The last minutes turned into a real shootout, where the hosts outshot guests – Yauheni Beliankou three-pointer helped the Minsk team get close to PARMA – 57:58.
Tsmoki caught the fire, continued to enchant at the beginning of the final game segment: Angelo Warner’s long-range hit and Yauheni Beliankou and-one brought the Minsk team ahead – 63:58. But it was not possible to increase the advantage – the rivals exchanged effective offencive actions, and the difference in the score did not exceed 5 points.
The key moment
The fate of the game was finally decided in the last possesions of the teams. A minute before the end, Jason Clark did not score difficult mid-range shot and then Nikolai Zhmako put PARMA ahead – 76:75. The hosts still had enough time for a decisive shot, but Eigirdas Zhukauskas made the most important steal, and Jeremiah Hill get a foul on himself and realized 2 free-throws 10 seconds before the buzzer – 78:75.
Hero
Mareks Mejeris. The Latvian forward played his best game for PARMA: 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 27 eff. points.
Numbers
1 – PARMA scored its first victory in the opening match of the season.
Comments
Rostislav Vergun, Tsmoki-Minsk Head Coach:
– Thank you so much for the support and the great atmosphere in the arena created by the fans. We were let down by the instability in the game. If there was one loss in the first quarter, then in the second – 7. We scored only 2 after offencive rebounds in 37 minutes – this is extremely small. Probably, these are the main factors of PARMA’s win. I thank you and take off my hat to the guys who fought despite all the difficulties. I really appreciate what they do. We got into a fight, we’re moving on.
Kazys Maksvitis, PARMA Head Coach:
– I’m happy with the win, but I’m not happy with the game quality. It so happened that our team did not hold games for three weeks. The guys lost a rhythm and overstayed the ball. Tsmoki played without two centers, but it even did them good. We couldn’t use our bigmen effectively, so we had to lighten the squad.
What’s next
Tsmoki-Minsk: road game against Avtodor on October 16
PARMA: home game versus CSKA on October 18
Photo 
