Nizhny Novgorod beat Astana on the road 84:79 (19:24, 25:17, 28:23, 12:15).
Top scorers
Astana: Malcolm Hill (25), Coty Clarke (16 + 5 rebounds), Dusan Ristic (14 + 10 rebounds).
Nizhny Novgorod: Brandon Brown (24 + 6 assists), Darral Willis (20 + 13 rebounds), Artem Komolov (14).
Story
Astana started this season with a pack of surprises, but lost the last two and had been in the bottom of playoff zone before this game. Nizhny were 10th, with a four games losing streak. Both teams strived for the win as could be seen in the first half. The biggest lead was only 5 points. The guests won rebounds and counted on Brandon Brown who had scored 17 points by the halftime break. Kazakhstan team were more balanced with 4 players to score 7 and more points. Nizhny won the first half with a small lead – 44:41.
Nizhny increased the lead in the third quarter with long range shots. Ivan Strebkov, Darral Willis, Artem Komolov and Brown made 6 3-pointers in 10 minutes to gain 8-point lead before the final quarter (72:64).
NN managed to freeze the game in the beginning of the fourt quarter, and Komolov’s three-pointer got them a double digit lead – 75:64. At this stage, the guests nearly lost the victory, as Astana played tight defense and Malcolm Hill cut the margin down to one shot distane.
Key moment
Isaiah Whitehead took control of the game one minute to the buzzer, but wasn’t successful. After bitter turnover and missed three-pointer, he comitted an intentional foul on Komolov 11 seconds before the end. Komolov’s free throws were good – 84:79.
NN stopped four games losing streak to climb to the 7th place and edge Astana out of Top 8. Nizhny remains one of the three teams Emil Rajkovikj can’t beat with two others being Khimki and CSKA.
Stat
8 – Zoran Lukic as Nizhny Novgorod head coach downed Astana eight times out of nine. The only loss was in November 2011.
Hero
Brandon Brown. The American was a crucial factor of Nizhny’s offense: 24 points, 6 assists and 9 of 12 field goals.
Comment
Astana head coach Emil Rajkovikj:
“We didn’t take our chance to win. Nizhny is a great team. Today they had good rotation, and they played with aggession within all 40 minutes. We have to take this lesson and move on”
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Zoran Lukic:
“First of all, congratulations to my team on this important road win. We controlled the whole game. In the last moments we lost focus, and the opponent made a good run. We have to work on these moments”
Next
Astana: December 15 at CSKA
Nizhny Novgorod: December 14 at Avtodor.
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