Nizhny Novgorod defeated Tsmoki-Minsk at home — 72:65 (25:23, 11:18, 14:8, 22:16).
The best scorers
Nizhniy Novgorod: Anton Astapkovich (20 + 13 rebounds + 5 assists), Sergey Toropov (17 + 7 rebounds), Alexandr Gankevich (10 + 9 rebounds)
Tsmoki-Minsk: Jason Clark (15), Angelo Warner (14 + 6 rebounds + 5 assists), Stefan Jankovic (10 + 6 rebounds), Yauheni Beliankou (10)
Game progress
In the last round, Tsmoki won their first game in the 2021/22 season and were eager to prove that this was not an accident. The Minsk team started the game very confidently and immediately took the lead. However, the hosts did not allow them to break away to a comfortable distance. And at the end of the first quarter, Ivan Strebkov’s three-pointer helped Nizhny leave for the first break with the lead – 25:23.
In the second 10 minutes, the pace and the percentage of shots decreased noticeably. Nizhny continued to shoot a lot from behind the arc, but the hosts’ snipers repeatedly missed. This allowed the Minsk team to get close to their opponents at a distance of one shot, and then Angelo Warner exploded – 7 points in a row. Warner was supported by Jason Clark, and at the end of the quarter Stefan Jankovic pleased his teammates with a buzzer, shooting from behind the arc a second before the buzzer for the halftime. 41:36 – Tsmoki lead.
🚨 Stefan Jankovic of @TsmokiMinsk closes 2nd Q vs Nizhny Novgorod with the buzzer! pic.twitter.com/KkarKbrdw5
— VTB League (@VTBUL) November 13, 2021
The guests started the second half as actively as before. Andrei Stabrouski ‘s shot brought Tsmoki advantage to 8 points – 49:41. However, from that moment on, Nizhny began to slowly but surely decrease trail. Mikhail Kulagin gave the start of the run 9:0, and before the start of the final 10 minutes, the hosts had already pulled ahead – 50:49.
The key moment
The fourth quarter was Anton Astapkovich benifit. His 9 points, Sergey Toropov and Alexandr Gankevich led to Nizhny advantage. Two minutes before the end of the game, NN got a double-digit advantage — 70:60. The guests could not return to the game, only reducing the gap to 7 points in the last minute. Zoran Lukic’s squad wins the third game in a row and is consolidated in the leaders’ group.
Hero
Anton Astapkovich. The forward started the game brightly, then went into the shadows, but in the fourth quarter he again gave a powerful performance, providing Nizhny with a winning result. Astapkovich added 5 assists to the double-double (20 points and 13 rebounds).
Numbers
4 – Nizhny Novgorod won the fourth game of the season. In addition, NN draws with CSKA in the standings and share the fourth place with the Army team.
Comments
Zoran Lukic, Nizhny Novgorod head Coach :
– It’s a very difficult game for us today. I want to congratulate Tsmoki-Minsk on a good game. In the second half, we were able to catch the rhythm and more or less controlled the opponent in defense. And already in the fourth quarter, the result of the game was finally decided. Unfortunately, I can’t be satisfied with anything but win. We have problems in the training process, and there will be even more of them in the near future.
Rostislav Vergun, Tsmoki-Minsk Head Coach:
– The key moment of the game was Nizhny 14 points run. Unfortunately, in every game we give the opponent too much advantage both in points and emotions, allowing them to make such runs. Later we were able to get out of it, but a tough game on the court was in Nizhny Novgorod hands today. They feel more comfortable in such basketball, and a tenacious, sometimes dirty game in defense gives them an additional advantage.
What’s next
Nizhny Novgorod: December 5 road game against Avtodor
Tsmoki-Minsk: December 6 home game versus UNICS
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