Pari Nizhny Novgorod defeated Astana at home – 66:62 (16:16, 22:10, 13:17, 15:19).

Game progress
Absence of Zach Nutall had an impact at the start. The opening quarter were tense but tightly contested and ended with the tie – 16:16. However, the hosts noticeably added to the defense, allowing Astana to score only 10 points. Shortly before the halftime, Sergey Kozin team brought the lead to 12 points. In the second half, Nemanja Djurisic 7 points in a row extended the difference to 15 points.

Key moment
Astana didn’t give up: after making several three-pointers, the guests made a comeback and cut ht edeficit to 6 points (43:49). Although the Volga team managed to restore the double-digit difference, the Kazakh team made the fans nervous. Daniel Utomi led the guests and after scoring 8 points in the last minute, he gave Astana hope for overtime, but on the final possession Nizhny Novgorod players managed to kill time – Astana had no chance to score 4 points in a 1.5 second. Pari Nizhny Novgorod ended 6-game losing streak and move up to 6th place in the standings.

X-factor
The game was decided by the second quarter, which Nizhny won 22:10. And although Astana was better in the second half (34:28), the advantage gained was enough to win and helped in a very tense ending.

Facts
The leaders of both teams in this game – Nemanja Djurisic and Daniel Utomi – set new career-highs.

Sergey Kozin celebrated his 30th game as head coach of Pari NN.

Leaders
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nemanja Djurisic (23 + 7 rebounds + 3 steals), Alexander Khomenko (17), Sergey Zotkin (7 + 5 rebounds), Aleksandr Chadov (3 + 7 rebounds), Igor Volkhin (2 + 5 rebounds).
Astana: Daniel Utomi (29), Grigory Motovilov (16 + 6 assists), Danila Pokhodiaev (9 + 10 rebounds), Galin Smith (4 + 6 rebounds).

What’s next
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: January 29 on the road against Lokomotiv Kuban .
Astana: January 29 at home versus Samara.