Setback in Moscow
«Astana» played its penultimate match of the first stage of the VTB United League regular season — Oleg Kiselev's team played against «Runa» in Moscow.
The best players on our team were Devin Davis (18 points, 9 rebounds), Royce Hamm (16 points, 9 rebounds), Markell Johnson (14 points, 8 assists, 5 steals), and Vasilije Pušica (11 points).
The first quarter was won by the hosts, the second by our team, and by halftime, «Astana» and «Runa» nearly tied at 39:38. However, the third quarter did not go well: the Moscow club created an advantage that could not be overcome – the final score was 80:67.
«First of all, I congratulate the guys. They responded proactively to the previous defeat. I can say that this was one of our best matches in terms of defense. We need to understand how to play defense even better in the second half of the season. Also, we need to reduce the number of turnovers. I hope today's victory will give us confidence. We need to continue working, preparing for the next games,» said the head coach of the hosts, Ertugrul Erdogan, after the game.
The final match of the first stage of the regular season will take place at the «Saryarka» velodrome on February 1st — «Yenisey» will visit. The start is at 17:00; tickets are available on Ticketon and «Davai Shodim!».