National League Round 23: Barsy Atyrau beat Almat.Legion in the most crucial game of the week

The Regular Season in National League is slowly approaching the end. But there may be still some important changes in the final standings in the last 3 rounds. Here is the last round review presented by ESL.

An exciting game was played in Atyrau. Second ranked Barsy Atyrau faced 4th placed Almat.Legion. Host Barsy Atyrau (18-6) smashed guests from Alma-Ata (7-15) 117-67. Barsy Atyrau dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Almat.Legion's 46 and made 20-of-22 free shots (90.9 percent) during the game. Barsy Atyrau forced 29 Almat.Legion turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists comparing to just 16 passes made by Almat.Legion's players. The best player for the winners was Russian forward Pavel Sizov (200-95) who had a double-double by scoring 23 points and 11 rebounds. point guard Oleg Balashov (181-99) chipped in 19 points and 4 steals. Barsy Atyrau's coach Arnis Vecvagars felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Center Daniel Albrant (205-98) produced a double-double by scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds for the guests. Barsy Atyrau maintains second place with 18-6 record having just six point less than leader Astana. Almat.Legion lost ninth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the fourth position with 15 games lost. Barsy Atyrau will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Almat.Legion will play on the road against Kaspiy Aktau (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
The game in Aktobe was also worth to mention about. Third ranked Tobol (10-8) played at the court of 6th ranked Aktobe (3-21). Tobol defeated Aktobe 77-67. International forward Anton Bykov (200-89) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 19 points and 15 rebounds. Shaim Kuanov contributed with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists for the winners. American forward Kent Hanson (198-97, college: Carleton) answered with 23 points and 7 rebounds for Aktobe. Tobol have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain third place with 10-8 record having eight points less than leader Astana. Aktobe lost fourth consecutive game. Newly promoted team stay dead last with 21 lost games. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.

The best stats of 23th round was 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists by Daniil Seleznyov of Tobol.

Barsy Atyrau - Almat.Legion 117-67

An exciting game was played in Atyrau. Second ranked Barsy Atyrau faced 4th placed Almat.Legion. Host Barsy Atyrau (18-6) smashed guests from Alma-Ata (7-15) 117-67. Barsy Atyrau dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Almat.Legion's 46 and made 20-of-22 free shots (90.9 percent) during the game. Barsy Atyrau forced 29 Almat.Legion turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists comparing to just 16 passes made by Almat.Legion's players. The best player for the winners was Russian forward Pavel Sizov (200-95) who had a double-double by scoring 23 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Oleg Balashov (181-99) chipped in 19 points and 4 steals. Barsy Atyrau's coach Arnis Vecvagars felt very confident that he used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Center Daniel Albrant (205-98) produced a double-double by scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds and forward Nikita Timofeev (199-98) added 15 points and 7 rebounds respectively for the guests. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Barsy Atyrau maintains second place with 18-6 record having just six point less than leader Astana. Almat.Legion lost ninth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the fourth position with 15 games lost. Barsy Atyrau will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Almat.Legion will play on the road against Kaspiy Aktau (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Almat.Legion: D.Albrant 18+12reb+2ast, N.Timofeev 15+7reb+2ast, S.Daniil 11+3reb+3ast, T.Dzhunusov 10+4reb+4ast, S.Stanislav 9+3reb+3ast, M.Rakovskih 2+1reb+1ast
Barsy Atyrau: P.Sizov 23+11reb+3ast, O.Balashov 19+1reb+3ast, R.Utegen 15+3reb+3ast, R.Cook 13+5reb+2ast, V.Ivanov 11+3reb, A.Akhmetzhan 9+4reb+1ast

Aktobe - Tobol 67-77

The game in Aktobe was also worth to mention about. Third ranked Tobol (10-8) played at the court of 6th ranked Aktobe (3-21). Tobol defeated Aktobe 77-67. They outrebounded Aktobe 44-33 including 30 on the defensive glass. Tobol players were unselfish on offense dishing 26 assists. International forward Anton Bykov (200-89) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 19 points and 15 rebounds. International point guard Shaim Kuanov (181-91) contributed with a double-double by scoring 12 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists for the winners. Five Tobol players scored in double figures. American forward Kent Hanson (198-97, college: Carleton) answered with 23 points and 7 rebounds and guard Alexander Papshiv (191-91) added 18 points and 6 rebounds in the effort for Aktobe. Tobol have a solid series of three victories in a row. They maintain third place with 10-8 record having eight points less than leader Astana. Aktobe lost fourth consecutive game. Newly promoted team stay dead last with 21 lost games. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Aktobe: K.Hanson 23+7reb+2ast, A.Papshiv 18+6reb+1ast, B.Sergei 8+4reb+3ast, S.Rovovoy 8+6reb+1ast, V.Gusak 6+7reb+4ast, M.Tabet 2+1reb+1ast
Tobol: A.Bykov 19+15reb+1ast, D.Seleznyov 17+8reb+4ast, P.Ilyin 12+7reb+5ast, S.Kuanov 12+7reb+10ast, K.Neff 11+2reb+3ast, D.Klimov 3+3reb+1ast



Tags : PAVEL SIZOV, BK BARSY ATYRAU, KAZAKHSTAN BASKETBALL