Nizhny Novgorod defeated Parma at home, 115-94 (30-19, 29-21, 27-24, 29-30).
Top Scorers
Nizhny Novgorod: Kenny Boynton (21), Ivan Strebkov (20+12 ast+3 stl), Tomislav Zubcic (17+3 stl), DeAndre Kane (13+6 ast+6 stl), Petr Gubanov (12+7 reb)
Parma: Danilo Andjusic (26+6 ast), Konstantin Bulanov (14), Sergei Chernov (11+6 reb), Ivan Nelyubov (11)
Recap
A 10-0 run late in the 1st quarter staked Nizhny Novgorod to a 15-point lead, 25-10. Recent signing Tomislav Zubcic had eight points, a block, and a steal in the opening period to key Nizhny’s hot start.
Parma pulled within five, 41-36, midway through the 2nd quarter, but never got any closer.
Nizhny closed the half on an 18-4 run to lead 59-40 at the break.
Parma competed in the second half, even pulling within 12 twice in the 4th quarter, but failed to truly threaten.
Nizhny finishes with a club-record 115 points and improves to 2-7, while Parma drops to 0-10.
Stat
115 – In addition to the club record, Nizhny set a new season-high in the League for points, beating Loko’s 107 vs. VEF.
Quotes
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Arturs Stalbergs:
– We played like Golden State today, plus they get 48 minutes to score 115 points and we only needed 40. I’m kidding, of course. We challenged ourselves to play aggressive full-court pressure and grab a comfortable lead in the opening minutes, which is what ended up happening. We let DeAndre Kane and Ivan Strebkov get some rest at the end of the game and brought out our young players. We lost a little focus as a result and Parma punished us. But, most importantly, we executed our game plan and finished the year on a positive note.
Parma head coach Viacheslav Shushakov:
– This was a game between two offenses. In the end, one team took better advantage of its open shots and even scored contested shots. We simply forgot about defense today. Prior to the game, we analyzed and prepared in detail for Nizhny’s press, but not all the players understood how to overcome it. Congratulations to Nizhny Novgorod and I want to thank our fans who came to support us.
Up Next
Nizhny Novgorod: January 8 at Astana
Parma: December 25 vs. UNICS
Snapshot
