Samara beat MINSK on the road and ended the loosing streak – 87:78 OT (16:19, 17:22, 25:18, 13:12, 16:7).
Game progress
MINSK (1-24) and Samara (9-15) had 6th and 2nd places in the Group B. MINSK had lost 14 last games, Samara 2.
The Belarusian team quickly showed good motivation. MINSK usually has serious problems with scoring, but in the first half the hosts played offense well. Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo and Vadzim Stubeda led the team, scoring 18 points with 7 out of 8 from the game. And yet Rostislav Vergun team offense was focused more on team plays – in the first 20 minutes the Belarusian team made 14 assists with 3 turnovers. MINSK led 41:33 at the halftime.
Most of the third quarter was equal, but in the last minutes, James Ennis and Maksim Barashkov made a 9:3 run, which allowed the guests to get closer to the opponent before the fourth quarter – 59:58 MINSK led.
The tense ending did not reveal a winner. Samara took the lead, but Yuri Umrikhin made only 1 free-throw out of 2 (71:68), DaQuan Bracey used it and made a threee-pointer.
Key moment
In overtime, Samara finally woke up. The Volga team started with James Ennis and Maksim Sheleketo three-pointers, after which the team took control of the game. The Volga team won the overtive with the score 16:7 and retained the 2nd place in Groun B, which makes it possible to play in the playoffs.
Key factor
Vladimir Ivlev. The center joined Samara in mid-January, returning after a serious injury and long recovery. Already in the third game for the Volga team, Ivlev was extremely good: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks from the bench with 3 out of 3 from the game.
Fact
MINSK and Samara remained the only VTB United League teams that did not get a single win in the second stage. The Volga team was the first to fix this situation, made a 13-point comeback during the game in the capital of Belarus.
Leaders
MINSK: Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo (14), DaQuan Bracey (13 + 5 rebounds + 7 assists), Vadzim Stubeda (11), Zach Smith (9 + 6 rebounds).
Samara: James Ennis (21 + 6 rebounds), Marcos Knight (20 + 6 rebounds + 4 assists + 3 steals), Anton Kardanakhishvili (14 + 6 rebounds), Vladimir Ivlev (10 + 6 rebounds).
Next games
MINSK: road game versus Avtodor on February 14.
Samara: home game against Astana on February 15.
