Vladimir Mihailovic, who finished with a career-high 23 for Minsk, hit a pair of buckets late in the first half that helped trim Astana’s lead from nine.
Mihailovic was not done, scoring the first five points of the second half to knot the score at 44-44 and 10 points by the midway mark of the 3rd quarter, keeping the visitors within reach, 55-51.
Astana finally began to pull away as Michael Jenkins’ 3-pointer gave the home team its first double-digit lead, 62-52, with 3:30 remaining in the period.
A 6-0 run to end the quarter, meanwhile, effectively put the game away. Jenkins hit another triple and the Kazakhs cruised into the 4th quarter with a 74-59 advantage.
Tsmoki’s offense faltered down the stretch, scoring just 12 points in the final period, which resulted in a lopsided final score.Astana - Tsmoki-Minsk 101:71 (20-12, 24-20, 30-20, 27-12).
Tsmoki-Minsk: Saddler (11+4 assista), Mihailovic (23+3 assti), Trastsineski (2), Meshcharakou (9+6 rebounds), Rush (3), Sarikopoulos (13+6 rebounds), Kudrautsau (6), Paliashchuk (0), Semianiuk (4).