CSKA vs Ural Great: 95-68
Rarely do the pre-game video highlights feature fans, but before the opening game of the final series of the Russian Championship, such move was entirely justifiable. The Perm club arrived in Moscow with all of its weapons, bringing with it 150 of the most committed fans. And the USH CSKA already knows from last season what Perm fans are capable of. Nonetheless, the regular video montage put together by Sergey Makarov did its thing. The spectators got warmed up to cheer. And from the very beginning, the CSKA didn’t allow the numerous visiting fans to turn the contest into a home game for the Perm squad.
While the fans were seeing which side could cheer louder, CSKA’s starting five easily erased any doubts about their mental state after the losses in the Euroleague Final Four. Making up for the losses to Barcelona and Montepaschi, CKSA attacked the Perm defense with all of its might. And more to the point, the might of American center Victor Alexander. CSKA’s No. 20’s was dropping his fade-away jumpers with ease. Alexander netted 14 points in the first quarter alone, eventually scoring a total of 22 for the game.
The visitors had chances to turn the game around, when, after a Sergei Belov timeout with the score 11-5 in the middle of the first quarter, Ural-Great went on an 8-0 run behind Muursepp and Vaikulis. But the Perm squad wasn’t able to build on it. Long-distance shots from Holden and Alexander gave the initiative back to Ivkovic’s team, and the score was 25-20 going into the second quarter.
The course of the game didn’t change after the break. Having won the opening quarter with the starting five, the CSKA head coach made some adjustments in his team. Above all, adjustments were made to stop Martin Muursepp, who gave CSKA problems in the first quarter. The coach put Sergey Panov on him rather than Darius Songaila. And Sergey was up to the task. Having scored seven points in the opening quarter, the leader of the Estonian national team practically disappeared and was eventually taken out by Sergey Belov. The home team was equally successful against Ural Great point guard Eddie Shannon, pressuring him in the backcourt at every opportunity.
The CSKA lead began to grow. The only player on the other team who CSKA wasn’t able to stop was Ksistof Lavrinovic. Thanks to his 8 poins in the second quarter, CSKA held only an 11-point lead going into halftime.
The third quarter began with a 5-point run by the home team (a mid-range shot by Alexander Bashminov and a 3-pointer by Zakhar Pashutin). With three minutes gone in the quarter, Bashminov pushed the lead to 60-40. Such a lead allowed Dusan Ivkovic to go to his bench. As a result, all 12 CSKA players saw action. (Remember, CSKA guard Sergey Monya was forced to miss the first two games of the final due to a disqualification). As it turns out, the visitors weren’t up to the task of stopping the CSKA bench, either. Ural Great was overmatched at every position, and CSKA took a 1-0 lead in the series.
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