Samara beat Astana on the road, securing the 2nd place in the Group B – 92:73 (23:9, 28:21, 26:18, 15:25).
Game progress
Astana (5-22) and Samara (12-17) had 5th and 3rd places in the Group B.
The Russian team started with a 9:2 run, after which the guests had the lead for the whole game. Samara led by 14 points after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Kazakh team added, but Samara still had the lead and the difference was 20 points – 50:30. James Ennis scored 15 points with 4 of 5 from the game.
In the second half, the game has not changed at all. Samara led the game and eventually won. The win moved Avtodor (12-17) in the fight for the playoffs.
Fact
So far in the season, Astana could not impose a serious struggle on Samara, losing in all three matches with a minimum gap of 14 points. Even a difficult schedule did not prevent the Volga residents from winning another confident victory. Even on Thursday evening, Samara played in Perm, and then it took a long time to get to Kazakhstan. The fact that the team has not held away matches for a month did not help Astana either.
Key factor
Already 4 minutes after coming off the bench, Oleg Balashov received a leg injury. This was a loss for Astana, which does not have a lot options.
Kwame Vaughn and Michael Myers were also unable to help the team today.
Leaders
Astana: Markell Johnson (29 + 7 rebounds + 5 assists), Rustam Murzagaliev (12 + 5 assists)
Samara: Marcos Knight (20 + 6 assists), James Ennis (19), Jordan Theodore (11)
Next games
Astana: road game versus Avtodor on March 16
Samara: home game against Avtodor on March 21
