Minsk — CSKA, 25 December 2023

Minsk – PBC CSKA: 83-97 (+14)

Minsk: Kosko (5 + 3 as + 4 to), Ogungbemi-Jackson (20 + 3 rb + 3 as + 3 to), Stubeda (0), Cebasek (8 + 5 rb + 3 as), Kuratnik (7 + 5 pf) – start; Shcherbakov (0), Borisevich (2), Zabelin (6 + 3 rb), Zecevic (18 + 7 rb + 3 to), Mikulskiy (5 + 2 as), Pasko (0), Aladko (12 + 3 as)…

CSKA: Trimble (14 + 3 as + 3 st + 4 to), Ukhov (5 + 3 rb + 3 as), Astapkovich (12 + 5 rb), Jean-Charles (10 + 3 rb), M'Baye (16 + 4 as + 2 st) – start; Mikhailovskii (5 + 3 rb), Ware (DNP), Jekiri (10 + 6 rb + 2 as), Ruzhentsev (17 + 3 as + 2 st), Antonov (4 + 3 rb + 2 st), Zaytsev (0), Kardanakhishvili (4 + 3 as)…

Emil Rajkovic, CSKA head coach:

I would like to congratulate Minsk, they did a really good job: great atmosphere and almost full arena. Our young players got a good experience, they got a taste of the VTB United League game, we tried to give them playing time and a little break for our veteran players like Casper Ware. Now we have a few days to recharge and then move on to the second part of the season. I would also like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the fans, especially ours, who came to support us from Moscow, who are always with us. Thanks to them.

I would like to point out one more detail that you don’t see so often in the professional sports arenas. In one of the episodes, the Minsk player [Vladislav] Mikulski, when we began to request a challenge to the referees, admitted that the ball went out of bounds off him, thereby showing a good example of fair play. I want to congratulate him on this.