The first Tsmoki win in the season – at home over Kalev

The first Tsmoki win in the season – at home over Kalev

Tsmoki-Minsk defeated Kalev at home – 93:91 from (23:16, 15:20, 14:14, 28:30, 13:11).

The best scorers:
Tsmoki-Minsk: Yauheni Beliankou (24 + 8 rebounds), Jason Clark (19), Angelo Warner (18 + 7 assists), Uladzislau Bliznyuk (12 + 5 assists).
Kalev: Davion Berry (25), Kristjan Kitsing (17 + 5 rebounds), Rauno Nurger (12 + 5 rebounds), JeQuan Lewis (11 + 8 assists), Oyars Silins (10 + 8 rebounds), Marcis Vitols (10).

Game progress
Kalev came to this game in good shape: the Estonian team stalled a little at the start of the season, but after they got two important wins over Nizhny Novgorod and CSKA. Tsmoki returned to their home court in the hope of getting the first W in the new season.

The start of the game turned out to be unstable. Due to the aggressive and successful offencive actions of the Kitsing-Berry duo, Kalev took the lead, but Tsmoki quickly recovered from the initial guests’ run and leveled the game. And at the end of the quarter, Uladzislau Bliznyuk showed his interest in the equal game course: the guard felt confident in his 3-pointer, brought the Dragons 7 points in a minute and allowed the hosts to lead for the first break – 23:16.

The second 10-minutes started again with a slight Kalev run, but the Minsk team did not choke. The hosts continued to bet on 3-point shots, and it worked: Tsmoki already had 6 out of 10. However, the Estonians clearly found their offencive pace. A few more shots from Kitsing and Berry, as well as the intensified Rauno Nurger and Marcis Vitols helped the guests to reduce the gap to only 2 points by the end of the first half – 36:38.

During the halftime, Roberts Stelmachers’ coaching staff made regular adjustments to the game of their players. Kalev noticeably increased in defense and began to attack more actively through the paint: through the efforts of Rauno Nurger and Oyars Silins, the guests got a 9-point run. But the Dragons found a worthy answer to this. Another performance by Yauheni Beliankou and Uladzislau Bliznyuk led to regaining the lead. By the final quarter, Tsmoki led 52:50.

The beginning of the final game quarter turned into a duel of snipers: the Dragons responded to Davion Berry’s three long-range shots with 2 Angelo Warner threes. The ticker went from side to side throughout the entire quarter, and the last minute turned out to be incredibly dramatic. First, JeQuan Lewis put Kalev ahead by 2 points, and already in the return, Angelo Warner drawed the score with a lay-up. The guests still had time, but Silas Melson missed two 3-point shots  – 80:80 and overtime.

The key moment
The fate of the extra five minutes was decided by Warner. However, the guard almost became an antihero, having missed twice from the free-throw line with the score 89:90 when guests led. Kalev could have won in the next possession, but Ojars Silins missed three-point shot. 5 seconds before the buzzer, Angelo took over the game again and did not lose – a foul and free-throws. This time the American had scored. The Tallinn team had a few more seconds to respond, but the turnover in the throw-in turned out to be fatal. In the incredible ending, Tsmoki-Minsk wins the first game of the season – 93:91.

Hero
Angelo Warner – although Yauheni Beliankou holds the lead in points, American guard effort in the last minutes of overtime determined the outcome of the game. Warner has 18 points, 7 assists and 23 eff. points.

Numbers
4 – Tsmoki-Minsk beat “Kalev” on the home court for the first time in 4 years. The previous home win of the Dragons over the Estonian team was on December 10, 2017.

Comments
Rostislav Vergun, Tsmoki-Minsk Head Coach:
– Firstly, Kalev is a very high-quality, highly organized team with a very strong coach. This year they are showing a very solid game in the Champions League, and the last win over the Army team says a lot. Therefore, it was very important for us to play extremely concentrated and disciplined today. It seems to me that the players have completed this task. There are definitely many things that can be corrected, something to work on and move on. But today we need to be able to enjoy the first win in the League, with which I congratulate the guys. I am grateful to them for their dedication and fighting.

Roberts Stelmachers, Kalev Head Coach :
– Congratulations to Tsmoki on the win. We gave the Minsk team a gift. Of course, they are a good team, but we also came to the game unprepared. If you look at the first 2 quarters, you can see that if we don’t fight, then we have big problems. It shows that not everyone is ready to play today, that was the biggest problem. As if someone thought that we should win – but no one will give up here without a fight.

What’s next
Tsmoki-Minsk: road game against Nizhny Novgorod on November 13
Kalev:  home game versus PARMA on November 15.

Photo07/11/2021 Tsmoki-Kalev 93:91 ОТ