Nizhny Novgorod beat Zielona Gora on the road – 97:93 ОТ (22:18, 26:22, 16:24, 19:19, 14:10).
Top scorers
Zielona Gora: Rolands Freimanis (24 + 5 rebounds), Iffe Lundberg (24), Kris Richard (9 + 6 rebounds).
Nizhny Novgorod: Evgenii Baburin (17), Artem Komolov (17), Ivan Strebkov (16 + 10 assists), Anton Astapkovich (15 + 10 rebounds).
Story
Before the game Zielona Gora had a 4-game winning streak beating CSKA sensationally in the latest round. Nizhny Novgorod were suffering from 5-game bad streak.
Starting minutes were even. But in the middle of the quarter Nizhny players paced up at defense that helped them make 8-point run and lead 12 to 8. In the beginning of the second quarter Volga shooters woke up. Anton Astapkovich, Artem Komolov, Kasey Shepherd and Evgenii Baburin scored 5 threes combined, the lead reached maximum 16 points. In the remaining time Zielona Gora tried to come back forcing paint. Rolands Freimanis hit a buzzer from halfcourt. By the end of the half it was 48:40 in guests’ favor.
🎯 Rolands @Freimis6 from the logo! pic.twitter.com/DlzcIlorks
— VTB League (@VTBUL) February 7, 2021
It changed in the beginning of the third. The hosts were storming Nizhny’s paint thus in 3 minutes cut the gap to one possession – 47:50. With 30 seconds left Cecil Williams three and Gabriel Lundberg’s and-one evened the score – 64:64.
The fourth quarter was hot. On-fire Gora made 10:3 run led by Rolands Freimanis. Evgenii Baburin and Ivan Strebkov cut the gap to 3 points with minute and a half left. However, with 15 seconds left Kasey Shepherd stole the ball and Sergey Toropov took the lead 83:82. But Rolands Freimanis was against this idea. Hosts’ forward collected offensive rebounds in last possession, drew a foul and forced overtime with accurate free throw – 83:83.
OVERTIME ALERT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1M61dbOHiT
— VTB League (@VTBUL) February 7, 2021
Key moment
The game was decided in the very-very end of overtime. With 6 seconds left Zielona Gora guard Iffe Lundberg missed both free throws with 96:93 on the scoreboard. Anton Astapkovich killed the intrigue. After an intentional foul Russian forward increased Nizhny’s lead to 4 points. The Poles had no time to recover.
Hero
Anton Astapkovich. The Russian spent his first game since December and hit a few important ones in overtime. Astapkovich scored 15 points and 9 rebounds.
Stat
1 – this is the first victory for Nizhny Novgorod in 2021.
Comments
Zielona Gora head coach Zan Tabak:
– I am proud of my team. It was our 5th game in 10 days. It was obvious that we were extremely fatigued. Short rotation, 8 players, 5 games in 10 days results in the result.
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Zoran Lukic:
– It was an important game for both teams. I think we deserved the victory. In the first half we controlled the game well, in the second we had mistakes, we made bad choices. We could finish the game earlier but did it only in overtime.
Next
Zielona Gora: February 28 @ Khimki
Nizhny Novgorod: February 11 vs Avtodor
Photo
