The capital's basketball club defeated the Estonian "Kalev" in the regular season of the VTB United League with a score of 102: 92.If for Estonians this was the last match in the VTB League championship, then Astana still has a couple of games left and the chances to get into the top eight. "Astana" in the first half of the season of the VTB League already met with the Estonians on their site. Then in a dramatic match the hosts celebrated the victory with a score of 83:73. Basketball players of "Astana" had no choice but to take revenge at home.

The selection of the ball was won by the guests, but at the first attack they made a mistake. "Astana" also at the first attempt was mistaken, but immediately corrected the situation and opened the account of the meeting. Estonians were followed by successful throws. In the second part of ten-minute "Astana" could not find its game, and the coach of the team, Mikhail Karpenko took a time-out, after which the Astana residents successfully implemented two attacks. A minute break followed the guests. The first period was quite aggressive, and ended with a score of 24:16 in favor of the owners of the parquet.

The second desyatiminutka passed at the same pace as the first. "Astana" worked well in defense, but the rival did not relax, showing his sniper abilities. By the second half of the period the Astana team "warmed up" with throws and successfully implemented three attacks in a row, thereby ensuring a good advantage of +10 points. At the big break the teams went with the score 50:35 in favor of "Astana". In the third period, the hosts retained their advantage, but the Estonians did not let them relax. Players from each team have already earned 4 personal comments, and the subsequent game was built more cautiously. An excellent period spent the defender of "Astana" Malcolm Grant, who in succession attacked the ring from behind the far arc. With a score of 78-62 the team went to the final period. As expected, the final period was the most intense. Both teams needed a victory. But luck was on the side of Astana residents. The meeting ended with a score of 102: 92 in favor of the capital's club.

The best player of the match was Malcolm Grant, who scored 32 points.

- We understood that for us this match from the series "Or the pan, or disappeared" - in case of defeat we practically lost the chances for the playoffs. Therefore, very carefully prepared. This week, at last, we did not go anywhere, were at home. The guys rested, there were no games of the national championship - there was a full week for preparation. We knew that the "Kalev" would put up a zone defense, and therefore we worked out in training how to attack the "zone". The mood, the work of the players on the court - all this gave the result. I want to thank every player - today even a little, but everyone visited the site, everyone contributed to the victory. They have done well. We will prepare further, because in the remaining matches we need to win too.

The next matches Astana will hold on its site, on April 25 and 26, Astana residents will host the Barca Atyrau basketball club in the final series of the Kazakhstan Championship among the men's teams of the National League.

The next match within the framework of the VTB United League "Astana" will be held on the road, on April 30 the basketball players from the capital will go to Riga, where they will meet with the local Basketball Club "VEF".

Source: pbcastana.kz