CSKA defeated Pari NN on the road – 78:62 (19:20, 17:12, 16:15, 26:15).
Game progress
CSKA had a 17-game winning streak before the game against Pari Nizhny Novgorod. The first half was equal. Nizhny Novgorod relied on Kirill Popov and long-range shots, as well as aggressive defense. The Moscow team dominated in rebounds, building offense through Melo Trimble and drives that gave the opportunity to get opportunities to score free throws. At the halftime, the guests had the lead – 36:32.
The third quarter did not bring any changes to the game. Evgenii Baburin and Norbert Lukacs helped Pari NN to cut deficit to 4 points by the middle of the final quarter.
Key moment
The ending did not work out. CSKA responded quickly with 6 points from Anton Astapkovich and Melo Trimble, but more importantly showed trademark defense. In the last 6 minutes of the game, Pari Nizhny Novgorod was only able to score 6 points. Livio Jean-Charles and Ivan Ukhov finally helped the guests to secure win.
X-factor
CSKA’s rotation played a key role – the guests bench players scored 22 points against only 4 by Pari NN rotation. The Volga team had only 8 players on the roster and also lacked the strength in the end of the game.
Facts
The Moscow team continued its winning streak (18).
Casper Ware played his 200th game in the VTB United League.
The rivalry history score is 45-4, CSKA leads. All 4 win in this rivalry were won by Nizhny Novgorod at home.
Timofey Samoylenko (16) became the third youngest player in VTB League history. The son of Petr Samoylenko and brother of Ivan Samoylenko had 2 minutes and 14 seconds in action.
Leaders
Pari NN: Kirill Popov (22), Ilya Karpenkov (16)
CSKA: Melo Trimble (22 + 6 rebounds + 5 assists + 5 steals), Ivan Ukhov (17), Livio Jean-Charles (12)
What’s next
Pari NN: March 10 at home versus Uralmash
CSKA: March 15 on the road against UNICS.
