The Vikings finished the first stage of the VTB United League-23/24 in ninth place with a score of 11-15. Thus, our team will continue to fight for the playoffs in Group B. We note interesting facts related to the first half of the season.
Runa was leading the championship at the beginning of the season. Our guys spectacularly broke into the VTB League. After three victories at the start, we led the championship, but we failed to gain a foothold at the top of the table.
The win over UNICS can rightly be called Runa’s best achievement in a single game this season. On November 9, the Vikings beat the reigning United League champion on the road – 86:83.
Best individual performance goes to Jeremiah Hill. In the away game against MBA, the point guard scored 27 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. He made 11 of 19 field goals, including 3 of 6 three-pointers.
Runa played its most productive game against Astana on November 30. Our guys managed to come back from «-20» and put the finishing touches on the opponent in overtime – 93:90.
Two wins over Uralmash are another striking achievement of Runa this season. After 9 consecutive defeats from Uralmash in the Superleague, our team took both games in the VTB League.
Runa is third in assists in the VTB League. Our team makes 17.6 passes on average per game. The Vikings are also in the top 3 in making 2-point shots – 55%.
Nikola Ivanovic is in the top 3 of the United League in terms of the number of created fouls. Opponents foul against Montenegrin 5.4 times on average per game. Ivanovic also remains the most productive player on our team, scoring 14.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals.
Our club performs better at home. On Lavochkina, Runa has a positive balance of victories and defeats in the VTB League – 7-6.
Alex Tyus is in 2nd place in the VTB League in the number of blocked shots. This season, the experienced center has already recorded 39 blocked shots, an average of 1.5 per game. Largely thanks to Uncle Sasha, Runa takes second place in blocked shots in the team standings. The Vikings make 3.7 of them per game.
Danila Pokhodyaev leads the championship in the number of defensive rebounds in one game. In the home game against MBA, the forward made 14 rebounds on his board. Pokhodyaev's averages this season are 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while making 38.8% of his three-point attempts.
The Vikings will begin the second stage on February 9 with an away game against Avtodor. The game will start at 18:00 Moscow time. Then our team will go to an away meeting with Samara, which will take place on February 13. Runa will play its next home game on March 3 – we will host Astana.
- Author: Vladislav Mashurov
- Source: PBC Runa
