«Tsmoki-Minsk» Minsk, Belarus vs. «Enisey» Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Enisey defeated Tsmoki-Minsk on the road, 91-89. The visitors took control early and led most of the game. Tsmoki made it close in the final minutes and had two chances to win the game or send it to overtime, but Ivan Maras and Aliaksandr Kudrautsau were off the mark. Enisey improves to 5-5, catching Tsmoki-Minsk in the standings.

Intro
Tsmoki-Minsk held a one-game lead in the standings, but Krasnoyarsk was slightly favored, having won three of its last four games. Even without Pavel Spiridonov and D.J. Kennedy, Enisey played smart, productive basketball.

Delroy James, Tony Taylor and Denis Zakharov helped Enisey pull away early. The visitors led by 8-10 points, shooting better than 50% most of the first half. Tsmoki-Minsk, however, closed the 2nd quarter on a 15-4 run, knocking down four of its last five shots to cut the deficit to one, 45-44.

Tsmoki went on top early in the 3rd quarter thanks to 3-pointers from Branko Mirkovic and Aliaksandr Kudrautsau. But once Alexander Pavlov and Pavel Sergeev came back on the court, Enisey got hot, finishing the quarter on a 15-6 run to go in front, 65-61.

Turning Point
Denis Zakharov scored five straight to open the 4th quarter, giving Enisey a nine-point lead. Ivan Maras cut the deficit to three briefly midway through the period, though Krasnoyarsk led by seven with a minute and a half left to play.

Tsmoki needed a miracle and nearly got it. Aliaksandr Kudrautsau cut the deficit to two, 91-89, in the final seconds. On the next possession, Sergeev threw the ball away, giving Tsmoki two final chances. But Maras and Kudrautsau could not connect, allowing Enisey to escape with a hard-fought 91-89 win.

Star Player
Tony Taylor. The American guard played his best game yet for Enisey, finishing with a team-high 21 points.

Stat of the Game
21 - number of Tsmoki-Minsk turnovers. Enisey took advantage, scoring often on the fast break.

Quotes
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Igor Grishchuk:
- I'm confident the fans enjoyed the game, but the outcome was disappointing. Playing at home, we can't turn the ball over 21 times. Plus, we didn't have any depth in our frontcourt today. As a result, even though we won the rebounding battle, we couldn't get a win.

Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
- This was a very tough game. Minsk has made life tough for every opponent and we had to work hard to get the win. During our first meeting, the Dragons got a little lucky. Today it was our turn. We played without two starters, which made our task much more difficult. But I'm happy with how my guys responded to the challenge.

Snapshot