Avtodor in a fierce fight loses to CSKA in the third match of the playoffs at the home arena with a score of 67:76 and ends their performance in the VTB United League 2022/23 season. Our team was leading in the first half of the match, but after a long break, the opponent lost the lead. The most productive player in the Saratov team today was Malik NEWMAN , who scored 23 points, and also made 6 rebounds and 3 interceptions.
VTB United League. Playoffs. Quarterfinal. Third match.
Avtodor (Saratov) - CSKA (Moscow) - 67:76 (25:16, 14:20, 16:21, 12:19).
Avtodor: Newman (23 + 6 rebounds + 3 steals), Nikolic (12 + 8 rebounds), Minchenko (9), Armand (8 + 5 assists + 3 steals), Garrett (7), Kolesnikov (3 + 5 rebounds) ), Petenev (3), Pranauskis (2), Mikhailovsky (0), Tsybikov (0).
CSKA: Moore (16 + 3 rebounds), Milutinov (15 + 12 rebounds).
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Saratov started the match effectively thanks to Malik Newman's three-pointer, as well as two passes by Sean Armand and, again, Malik. 7:0 – Avtodor kept the starting segment, and, as a result, Emil Rajkovic took a timeout. The guests were able to open an account for themselves only by the end of the third minute with an accurate long-range shot by Ivan Ukhov. The black-and-whites immediately responded with Newman's three-pointer and Yevgeny Minchenko's signature block shot. After that, the army team gave "+8" points in a row and even took the lead, but the Saratov team did not allow this gap to increase. The active actions of Nikolic and Armand (both at this moment are accurate from behind the arc), as well as free throws made, allowed Avtodor to earn an advantage in the score. Guests in this segment of the game showed a low percentage of sales. Yevgeny Minchenko finished the first quarter with a three-point shot - 25:16. An interesting fact is that in all three matches of the quarterfinal series, the starting ten-minute period ended with an accurate long-range throw under the siren from one of the Saratov players: Newman in the first game, Pranauskis in the second and Minchenko in the third.
Already at the beginning of the second period, two successful passes by Evgeny Minchenko (one of which ended in a powerful dunk in a fast break) helped Saratov to secure an 11-point lead – 30:19. However, as the game progressed, the guests began to close the gap. We were let down by our own walls - after a long-range shot by Nikolic, the ball treacherously scrolled several times over the darling of the ring. With a score of 36:36, the Montenegrin nevertheless abandoned his coveted "three" and the black-and-whites again took the lead. There were 22.7 seconds of playful time left when the head coach of CSKA took a time-out, but it did not help much, and the army team failed to finish the last attack with points. End of the quarter - 39:36.
During the long break, Oleg Dubovenko, Minister of Youth Policy and Sports of the Saratov Region, presented Avtodor defender Malik Newman with well-deserved awards - the prize of the best sniper of the season and MVP of February in the VTB United League 2022/23.
After the break, both teams continued to play evenly. In the first attack, we answered the army “kopeck piece” with Alexander Petenev’s “three-pointer”. Saratov continued to act reliably in defense, took rebounds and converted their chances from under the ring. However, the third quarter still went for a slight advantage of the guests, which allowed them to take the lead in the final ten minutes - 55:57.
Starting with finishing off Nikolic after a Pranauskis throw and a long-range duel between Moore and Kolesnikov, the game gradually passed into the hands of CSKA. 5 minutes before the end of the meeting, the advantage of the guests reached 7 points, and they did not miss it. The fatigue of Avtodor players had an effect. Several timeouts by Branislav Vicentić made adjustments to the game of black and white, but they could not greatly affect the result on the scoreboard. The result of the meeting is 67:76. The result of the series is 0:3.
Another difficult season has come to an end for Avtodor. The team underwent changes several times both on the coaching bridge and on the floor. Saratov showed their strengths in the Second Stage of the regular season, winning 8 out of 10 possible in Group B, which allowed us to reach the playoffs of the VTB United League. We thank the fans for their fiery support in today's match and throughout the VTB United League 2022/23 draw! See you next season!