«Tsmoki-Minsk» Minsk, Belarus vs. «Avtodor» Saratov, Russia

Avtodor (Russia) defeated Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus) on the road, 119-99. The first half was very competitive and Saratov only started to pull away near the end of the 3rd quarter. A flurry of five 3-pointers in the 4th quarter helped Avtodor put the game away and snap a three-game losing streak. The rookies also set a new league record for points in a game.

Intro
Neither of these teams were playing very well entering the game. Minsk was on a four-game skid, while Saratov had lost three straight. On Monday, Avtodor president Vladimir Rodionov took over as head coach, replacing Sergei Mokin. The Volga club also parted ways with point guard Anton Glazunov and forward Alexander Gudumak.

Fans of run-and-gun basketball had to love the 1st quarter. Both teams played extremely up-tempo on offense and didn't worry much about the defensive end. Led by Courtney Fortson and Travis Peterson, Avtodor held a slim 29-27 lead entering the second period.

The 2nd quarter was almost identical to the 1st. Avtodor once again enjoyed a two-point advantage (27-25), taking a four-point lead at halftime.

About midway through the 3rd quarter, the Russian visitors started to take control, helped out by Kyrylo Fesenko's dominant play in the paint. The Ukrainian big man scored a couple of times under the basket, then picked up a block on Ivan Maras and hit Micah Downs with an outlet pass. An Alexey Vzdykhalkin 3-pointer capped the run, giving Saratov an 85-75 lead at the end of three quarters.

Turning Point
Tsmoki did everything it could to erase the deficit in the 4th quarter, pulling within four points with eight minutes left to play. But that was as close as the home team got. Avtodor knocked down five 3-pointers over the next three minutes, including three from Downs! The 15-0 run ended Minsk's comeback hopes and helped Avtodor snap its three-game losing streak.

Star of the Game
Courtney Fortson. Saratov's incredible evening of offense was made possible by Fortson. He put up 28 points and 17 assists as well as an efficiency rating of 42 (a new season record)!

Stat of the Game
119 - number of points scored by Avtodor. That's a new league record! Saratov surpassed Lietuvos Rytas's record from 2011, when they defeated Dnepr, 116-78.

Quotes
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Igor Grishchuk:
- The game was interesting for the fans and ended with a score more typical of an NBA game. But I would have preferred if the score had been 99-98 in our favor. We played well in the first half, but we couldn't stop Avtodor's fast breaks. In addition, the visitors converted almost 52% of their 3-point field-goal attempts. Finally, we were missing Ulyanko, who's out for two weeks. It's too bad that we've had someone injured almost every month.

Avtodor head coach Vladimir Rodionov:
- I'm satisfied with the win. One negative would be Klimenko's play, who still isn't completely healthy. As for our opponent, they have a good backcourt. But the team could really use another big man. I think that the home game against Minsk was more competitive.

Top Performers
Tsmoki-Minsk: Aliaksandr Kudrautsau - 18 points; Rashaun Freeman - 15 points; Ivan Maras - 14 points, five rebounds; Vitaly Lyutich - 11 points, six rebounds; Branko Mirkovic - 11 points, five assists; Aliaksei Lashkevich - 11 points.

Avtodor: Courtney Fortson - 28 points, 17 assists; Micah Downs - 23 points, eight rebounds; Kyrylo Fesenko - 23 points, six rebounds; Travis Peterson - 17 points, six rebounds; Jeremy Chappell - 12 points, five rebounds, four steals; Alexey Vzdykhalkin - 12 points, five assists.