Astana snatched win over Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road – 78:73 (20:23, 21:18, 15:19, 22:13).
Game progress
Although Nizhny Novgorod hasn’t got a single loss so far in the season, Astana immediately showed their spirit by taking the lead. Evgenii Baburin 8 straight points helped the hosts to regain, but Astana didn’t let Zoran Lukic team to continue. Royce Hamm broke throught Nizhny defense in the paint, the guests stabilized and equalized the game by the halftime – 41:41.
The third quarter had the same senario. Only in the final seconds of the third quarter, Mikhail Belenitskii and-one helped the Volga team to get a 4-point lead – 60:56. But right at the start of the final quarter, Carvel Anderson and Hamm tied the score again.
Key moment
In the last minutes, Astana defense didn’t allowed Pari NN to score and relied on Hamm and Markell Johnson offensive skills. As a result, the guests got the lead a minute before the end of regulation – 73:70. Glenn Causey missed three-pointer to tie the game, and Adam Kunkel free-throws denied Nizhny Novgorod chances for overtime. Astana gets the first win of the season, while Nizhny lost for the first time.
Key factor
Astana showed good defense and Nizhny had bad shooting percentage: Causey, Bryon Allen and Vorontsevich made 2 out of 19 threes.
Fact
Astana beat Pari NN for only the fourth time in their rivalry history (22 games), and the Kazakh team took the lead in Nizhny Novgorod for the first time since 26 November 2011 – which, by the way, was the first official game between these teams in the United League.
Leaders
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Glenn Causey (18 + 8 assists), Evgenii Baburin (16), Aleksandr Chadov (9 + 6 rebounds), Andrey Vorontsevich (7 + 6 rebounds + 3 steals).
Astana: Markell Johnson (24 + 6 rebounds + 5 assists + 3 steals), Royce Hamm (20 + 8 rebounds), Carvel Anderson (14), Devin Davis (11 + 7 rebounds).
What’s next
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: October 22 on the road versus Enisey.
Astana: October 25 at home against Avtodor.
