CSKA Moscow defeated Enisey Krasnoyarsk at home, 85-63 (21-15, 19-21, 24-11, 21-16).
Top Scorers
CSKA: Nando De Colo (19+6 reb+3 stl), Vitaly Fridzon (13), Mikhail Kulagin (10+3 stl), Nikita Kurbanov (10)
Enisey: Vladimir Pichkurov (12), Tony Taylor (11+6 ast), Suleiman Braimoh (10)
Intro
Entering the game at 5-5, Enisey had a chance to move into 6th place with an upset of CSKA.
For 20 minutes, the visitors hung tight. Trailing 21-15 at the end of 10 minutes, Enisey pulled within a point, 29-28, midway through the 2nd quarter.
CSKA stretched the lead to seven late in the first half, but Denis Lukashov’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to four, 40-36, at halftime.
Turning Point
Needing a win to keep pace with UNICS in 1st place, CSKA had no interest in ending 2016 on a sour note.
The Army Men scored the first five points of the 3rd quarter and never looked back, going up as much as 17 points in the period.
After putting up 36 points in the first half, Krasnoyarsk only scored 11 in the 3rd quarter and ended the half with a measly 27, while conceding 45.
CSKA ultimately cruises to victory, becoming the 2nd team to 10 wins, while Enisey drops to 5-6 and remains in 7th place.
Stat
+21 – CSKA earned 35 free-throw attempts to Enisey’s 6 and finished the game with a 21-point edge at the line (27-6).
Quotes
CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
– Congrats to my team on another win. We set the tone with our defense. We did a great job against a team that averages 81 points per game. We still have issues with turnovers, which cost us dearly against Fenerbahce and prevented us from playing better today. It was also important that Nando returned today. He even played more than we expected. Nando felt good and confident, so we decided to extend his time on the court in the 3rd quarter.
Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
– We weren’t able to use our best roster. That’s why we weren’t able to play better. We simply didn’t have the resources. In addition, it’s fairly difficult to win when you take six free-throw attempts compared to 35 for your opponents. Overall, I don’t think we were too bad today.
Up Next
CSKA: January 8 at Tsmoki-Minsk
Enisey: January 8 at VEF
