«Tsmoki-Minsk» Minsk, Belarus vs. «Krasny Oktyabr» Volgograd, Russia

Krasny Oktyabr defeated Tsmoki-Minsk on the road, 81-77. The visitors seized control early, leading by 17 points at halftime. Despite a furious second-half comeback, Tsmoki-Minsk would fall short, suffering its second loss of the season, while Oktyabr improves to 2-4. 

Intro
After winning in Week One, Volgograd had lost four in a row, an unnacceptable result for such an ambitious club. Playing without its leader Tony Mitchell, Krasny Oktyabr faced another challenge on Sunday, going up against a Tsmoki-Minsk club that had started the season 3-1.

Jordan Hamilton gave Volgograd the early lead. Tsmoki-Minsk struggled throughout the first half, with most of the offense coming from Branko Mirkovic and Garrett Stutz.

In the 2nd quarter, Viacheslav Zaitcev got hot for the Steelmen, sparking the visitors to a 17-point lead at the break, 45-28.
Much better defense in the 3rd quarter let Minsk back into the game. Krasny Oktyabr scored a measly 11 points in the period and saw their lead steadily shrink.

The home team got within four points several times in the 4th quarter, but couldn't get any closer. Andrei Matiejunas was huge for Krasny Oktyabr, holding Tsmoki at bay with big baskets and assists.

Turning Point
Needing a miracle, Tsmoki-Minsk cut the deficit to two with seven seconds left in the game. Matiejunas went to the line to shoot two free throws and calmly converted both, making it a two-possession game to seal victory.

Star of the Game
Justin Hamilton. The American is getting better with each appearance. He was Oktyabr's primary weapon against Minsk, sparking the early lead and hitting big shots in the second half.

Stat of the Game
34 - number of points scored by Oktyabr's bench. Volgograd isn't terribly deep, but Zaitcev, Matiejunas and Guinnn made valuable contributions today off the bench.

Quotes
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Igor Grishchuk:
- I want to apologize to everyone who came to the Arena Minsk. I take all of the responsibility for the loss. Unfortunately, we couldn't motivate ourselves for a home game, which we'd "won" before the opening tip. You have to be able to get motivated for every game. As for Belyankov's appearance in the 3rd quarter, he definitely deserves praise. He's trying, getting better and working hard in practice. I wish there were more Belarusian players like him.

Krasny Oktyabr head coach Kirill Bolshakov:
- I want to thank the guys for playing team basketball. Perhaps parting ways with Mitchell had a positive impact. I don't want to talk about our play in the second half, when we let the opponent get close. I'll just say that going with a short rotation was not the reason we looked worse after the break.

Stats

Snapshot