CSKA defeated Pari Nizhny Novgorod in Quarterfinals Game 3 on the road – 99:68 (32:16, 18:19, 14:20, 35:13).

Game progress
The Moscow team started the game with 15-3 run. Pari NN defense couldn’t guard Melo Trimble and Casper Ware, and the difference quickly grew to 16-18 points. CSKA had another great stretch, at one point bringing the lead to 23 points (50:27).

Despite such a discouraging start, the hosts did not even think about giving up. Before the end of first half, Evgenii Baburin cut the deficit to 15 points.The Volga team continued to catch up CSKA in the second half. Alexander Khomenko and Alex Hamilton were the main heroes of the third quarter. After Baburin’s free throw, CSKA’s 20-point lead was almost gone – 56:52.

Key moment
After such run, Nizhny Novgorod ran out of energy. CSKA continued to push, Trimble and Livio Jean-Charles quickly gave the team back a double-digit lead. In the final quarter, the Moscow team offense continued to have little trouble dealing with the Volga team tired defense. CSKA closes out the series and advances to the Semifinals, where will face UNICS.

X-factor
CSKA bench players was key factor in the entire series, but it was evident in this game: Pari NN played the entire game with 8 players, with the Volga team bench made only 12 points (all by Sergey Zotkin). CSKA rotation scored 39 points.

Facts
Pari NN did not allow the Moscow team to score a hundred for the first time in this Playoffs (and for the first time in the last 4 games against CSKA).

Melo Trimble has his best scoring performance since January 22, when he made 29 points against Avtodor.

Leaders
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Alexander Khomenko (14), Sergey Zotkin (12 + 8 assists), Ilya Karpenkov (12), Evgenii Baburin (11), Alex Hamilton (10 + 8 rebounds).
CSKA: Melo Trimble (23 + 7 assists + 3 steals), Livio Jean-Charles (18 + 5 rebounds), Aleksa Avramovic (14), Kasper Ware (12), Semen Antonov (11), Tonye Jekiri (4 + 7 rebounds).

What’s next
CSKA: May 6 at home against UNICS.