Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings

The games at this stage are more interesting as they can be crucial for the final standings in Regular Season. Despite we already know who is stronger and who is weaker, there may be still last minute surprises and upsets. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most exciting game of round 56 in the VTB-Youth League took place in Perm. This derby game ended with only two-point home defeat of one of their biggest challengers Parma-2 (30-16) to sixth ranked N.Novgorod-2 (28-18) 78-76 on Saturday evening. It ended at the same time the five-game winning streak of Parma-2. They outrebounded Parma-2 50-38 including 17 on the offensive glass. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when N.Novgorod-2 made 7 blocks. Forward Yaroslav Anikin (198-2005) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 25 points and 15 rebounds. Vladimir Semenchenko (193-2005) contributed with 15 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the winners. Forward Lev Svinin (204-2006, agency: Stanislav Ryzhov) replied with 20 points and 6 rebounds for Parma-2. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. N.Novgorod-2 maintains sixth position with 28-18 record. Parma-2 at the other side dropped to the fifth place with 16 games lost. N.Novgorod-2 are looking forward to face Lokomotiv-2 (#8) in Krasnodar in the next round. Parma-2 will have a break next round.
Very important is a home loss of third ranked Khimki-2 (32-12) against fifth ranked Zenit-2 (30-14) on Saturday night. Host Khimki-2 was crushed by Zenit-2 in Khimki 76-56. Worth to mention a great performance of center Mikhail Presnyakov (205-2007) who helped to win the game recording 15 points and 8 rebounds and Ivan Kasyanov who added 11 points and 7 rebounds during the contest. Zenit-2’s coach Roman Knyazev allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Center Sergey Simakov (207-2005) responded with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Zenit-2 have an impressive five-game winning streak. Defending champion moved-up to fourth place. Khimki-2 at the other side keeps the third position with 12 games lost. Zenit-2 will play against bottom-ranked Enisey-2 (#13) in Krasnoyarsk in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Khimki-2 will play on the road against Avtodor-2 (#12) in Saratov and hopes to get back on the winning track.
The game in Minsk was also quite interesting. Second ranked CSKA-Junior (38-8) played at the court of 7th ranked Minsk (20-24). CSKA-Junior did not have too big problems and got a relatively easy victory 82-64 on Saturday. The winners were led by Nikolay Natcvlishvili who had that evening a double-double by scoring 24 points and 12 rebounds. Even 16 points by Danila Semenyuk did not help to save the game for Minsk. Both coaches tested many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. CSKA-Junior keeps a position of league leader, which they share with MBA-2. Minsk lost fourth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the seventh place with 24 games lost. They share the position with Lokomotiv-2. CSKA-Junior will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Minsk will play against Samara-2 (#10) and hope to secure a win.

There were no big surprises in other games of round 56: Samara-2 was beaten by Lokomotiv-2 on the road 91-75. Uralmash-2 won against UNICS-2 on its own court 90-72. Bottom-ranked Enisey-2 was outscored by MBA-2 in Moscow 111-51.
The most impressive performance of 56th round was 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists by Klim Adaykin of MBA-2.

Lokomotiv-2 – Samara-2 91-75

No shocking result in a game when eighth ranked Lokomotiv-2 (20-24) beat 10th ranked Samara-2 (14-30) in Krasnodar 91-75 on Saturday. Lokomotiv-2 outrebounded Samara-2 41-23 including 17 on the offensive glass. Lokomotiv-2 looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. The winners were led by guard Alexandr Molofeev (195-2006) who scored that evening 25 points and 5 assists and guard Ilya Grushevskiy (194-2005) supported him with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Four Lokomotiv-2 players scored in double figures. Lokomotiv-2’s coach Jovan Popovich used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Even 33 points (!!!), 6 rebounds and 5 assists by point guard Georgiy Marufov (195-2006) did not help to save the game for Samara-2. Point guard Ilya Zaytcev (193-2005) added 24 points for the guests. Lokomotiv-2 have a solid four-game winning streak. They moved-up to seventh place, which they share with Minsk. Samara-2 lost fifth consecutive game. They keep the tenth position with 30 games lost. Lokomotiv-2 will meet higher ranked N.Novgorod-2 (#6) in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. Samara-2 will play against Minsk (#7) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Lokomotiv-2: A.Molofeev 25+4reb+5ast, I.Grushevskiy 23+5reb+4ast, M.Malakhov 13+6reb+2ast, K.Luzan 12+8reb+3ast, P.Ryabkov 8+13reb+9ast, V.Antciferov 4+2reb+1ast
Samara-2: G.Marufov 33+6reb+5ast, I.Zaytcev 24+4reb+2ast, A.Prokhorov 6+7reb+1ast, A.Kogemyakin 5+4ast, V.Guk 4+2reb+1ast, N.Shvechikhin 3+1ast

gschID: 1205023

Uralmash-2 – UNICS-2 90-72

There was a minor upset when 9th ranked UNICS-2 (15-31) lost to eleventh ranked Uralmash-2 (14-32) in Yekaterinburg 72-90 on Saturday. Uralmash-2 looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. The winners were led by Vladislav Smagin (200-2006) who scored that evening 28 points and point guard Matvey Reshetov (178-2005) supported him with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists. Four Uralmash-2 players scored in double figures. Uralmash-2’s coach Aleksei Komarov used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Even 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks by point guard Magomednabi Khalilulaev (186-2006) did not help to save the game for UNICS-2. Guard Nikita Lednev (189-2005) added 19 points and 6 rebounds for the guests. Uralmash-2 maintains eleventh position with 14-32 record. UNICS-2 lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 31 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Uralmash-2: V.Smagin 28+4reb+2ast, A.Fomin 24+4reb+2ast, A.Kosachev 14+1reb+2ast, M.Reshetov 12+7reb+13ast, D.Karmanov 2, A.Galiakbarov 0
UNICS-2: N.Lednev 19+6reb+2ast, M.Khalilulaev 19+7reb+7ast, Y.Dudnik 13+4reb, E.Shaposhnikov 7+2reb+3ast, T.Allayarov 4+1reb, A.Gerega 4+5reb+1ast

gschID: 1205024

Parma-2 – N.Novgorod-2 76-78

gschID: 1205025

Minsk – CSKA-Junior 64-82

The game in Minsk was also quite interesting. Second ranked CSKA-Junior (38-8) played at the court of 7th ranked Minsk (20-24). CSKA-Junior did not have too big problems and got a relatively easy victory 82-64 on Saturday. CSKA-Junior outrebounded Minsk 53-33 including a 25-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. CSKA-Junior looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists comparing to just 8 passes made by Minsk‘s players. The winners were led by Nikolay Natcvlishvili (198-2005) who had that evening a double-double by scoring 24 points and 12 rebounds and point guard Denis Klubbe (192-2007) supported him with 23 points. Even 16 points by Danila Semenyuk (194-2006) did not help to save the game for Minsk. Forward Vitaly Duchko (197-2006) added 13 points and 5 rebounds for the hosts. Both coaches tested many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. CSKA-Junior keeps a position of league leader, which they share with MBA-2. Minsk lost fourth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the seventh place with 24 games lost. They share the position with Lokomotiv-2. CSKA-Junior will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Minsk will play against Samara-2 (#10) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
CSKA-Junior: N.Natcvlishvili 24+12reb+2ast, D.Klubbe 23+4reb+3ast, R.Gusev 18+6reb+3ast, I.Bondarenko 7+7reb, A.Lukyanov 3+5reb+3ast, N.Mikheev 2+4reb
Minsk: D.Semenyuk 16+3reb+2ast, V.Duchko 13+5reb+1ast, D.Mukete 9+9reb+1ast, I.Litarnyi 7+4reb, A.Ozhgo 6+1reb+1ast, P.Rabushko 6+4reb+1ast

gschID: 1205026

Khimki-2 – Zenit-2 56-76

Very important is a home loss of third ranked Khimki-2 (32-12) against fifth ranked Zenit-2 (30-14) on Saturday night. Host Khimki-2 was crushed by Zenit-2 in Khimki 76-56. Zenit-2 forced 25 Khimki-2 turnovers and outrebounded them 38-26 including 16 on the offensive glass. Worth to mention a great performance of center Mikhail Presnyakov (205-2007) who helped to win the game recording 15 points and 8 rebounds and center Ivan Kasyanov (205-2005, agency: Stanislav Ryzhov) who added 11 points and 7 rebounds during the contest. Zenit-2’s coach Roman Knyazev allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Center Sergey Simakov (207-2005) responded with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks and Maxim Panarin scored 7 points and 4 assists. Zenit-2 have an impressive five-game winning streak. Defending champion moved-up to fourth place. Khimki-2 at the other side keeps the third position with 12 games lost. Zenit-2 will play against bottom-ranked Enisey-2 (#13) in Krasnoyarsk in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Khimki-2 will play on the road against Avtodor-2 (#12) in Saratov and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Zenit-2: M.Presnyakov 15+8reb, E.Evstafev 11+4reb+2ast, I.Kasyanov 11+7reb+1ast, A.Porotnikov 8+3reb+8ast, D.Chikishev 8+1reb+3ast, Z.Romashov 7+1ast
Khimki-2: S.Simakov 21+8reb, F.Lavrekhin 11+3reb, M.Panarin 7+3reb+4ast, D.Bogdanovich 6+2reb, A.Lapkin 6+2reb+1ast, P.Repnin 3+2reb+3ast

gschID: 1205027

MBA-2 – Enisey-2 111-51

Very predictable result when second ranked MBA-2 (38-8) rolled over bottom-ranked Enisey-2 (2-42) in Moscow 111-51 on Saturday. MBA-2 dominated down low during the game scoring 64 of its points in the paint compared to Enisey-2‘s 38. MBA-2 forced 28 Enisey-2 turnovers and outrebounded them 48-31 including a 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. MBA-2 looked well-organized offensively handing out 28 assists comparing to just 14 passes made by Enisey-2‘s players. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when MBA-2 made 8 blocks. The winners were led by Klim Adaykin (195-2005) who scored that evening 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and center Viktor Shiryaev (204-2005) supported him with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Five MBA-2 players scored in double figures. MBA-2’s coach Alexander Afanasyev felt very confident that he used entire bench and allowed the starting five to rest. Even a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds (on 8-of-10 shooting from the field) by center Danil Zavorotniy (204-2005) did not help to save the game for Enisey-2. Alexandr Ukhinov (190-2005) added 10 points for the guests. MBA-2 have a solid four-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader, which they share with CSKA-Junior. Enisey-2 lost third consecutive game. They stay dead last with 42 lost games. MBA-2 will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Enisey-2 will play against Zenit-2 (#4) in Saint Petersburg and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
MBA-2: D.Gusev 16+3reb+1ast, K.Adaykin 15+7reb+5ast, S.Chugunov 14+6reb+1ast, V.Shiryaev 13+10reb+1ast, D.Finaev 10+2reb+1ast, M.Padius 10+2reb+5ast
Enisey-2: D.Zavorotniy 17+10reb, A.Ukhinov 10+2reb+1ast, I.Nifontov 8+3reb+1ast, A.Vorobev 6+4reb, R.Pekshin 3+4reb+4ast, S.Datcko 3+3reb