MBA beat the Astana in regular season game on the road – 103:69 (23:24, 20:9, 32:21, 28:15).
The best scorers
Astana: Daniil Aksenov (13), Michael Myers (11 + 7 rebounds), Oleg Balashov (10), Valery Likhodei (9 + 6 rebounds).
MBA: Daniil Kasatkin (18), Alekaandr Khomenko (16), Anton Pushkov (12 + 5 rebounds), Evgeny Valiev (12), Timofey Yakushin (12), Makar Konovalov (11).
Game progress
A regular participant of the League Astana started the season with a major defeat in Saratov, MBA presented the main surprise in the season opening game so far, beating Loko in Krasnodar. The first quarter was equal. The hosts looked a little preferable in offense, but they had small lead – 24:23. In the second quarter, MBA managed to add to the defense, limiting Astana to only 9 points. At the same time, everything went according to plan in the other half of the Moscow team. The activity of experienced Russian bigmen Anton Pushkov and Evgeny Valiev in the paint allowed the League newcomer to go on break with a 10- point lead – 43:33.
Valiev played only 3 games for UNICS last season, but after moving to MBA to Vasily Karasev, he is experiencing a second youth. In the third quarter, several shots made by MBA allowed them to take the lead. Daniil Kasatkin, who came off the bench, also acted extremely effective. Although the Russians outplayed the opponent primarily due to team efforts: in defense, in the organization of the game, coherence and desire. The shooters worked productively. Astana often failed in defense and had a lot of turnovers. As a result, after three quarters, MBA led by 21 points.
With only Russian players in the roster, the newcomer starts the season with two road wins.
Hero
Daniil Kasatkin. Six MBA players scored 11 or more points. The 23-year–old guard became the best scorer – 18 points and 3 assists with 8 out of 9 from the game in 24 minutes.
Numbers
103 – MBA became the second team of the season after CSKA, which scored 100 points.
What’s next
Astana: home game versus PARMA-PARI on October 13 .
MBA: home game against Minsk on October 12.
