PARMA beat Astana on the road – 84:80 (21:27, 24:19, 17:19, 22:15).
Top scorers
Astana: Michael Thompson (28 + 7 rebounds), Nikolay Bazhin (16), Eric Buckner (14 + 7 rebounds).
PARMA: Eigirdas Zukauskas (20 + 4 steals), Boris Savovic (19 + 7 rebounds+ 5 assists, Mareks Mejeris (12), Marcel Ponitka (11 + 5 assists + 4 steals), Lorenzo Williams (10).
Story
For both teams this game was crucial in terms of fighting for play-off places. In case of win Perm would have come back to top-8 outpacing Avtodor. In case of Astana win it would have allowed Astana get closer to PARMA.
The beginning of the game was a shootout. The hosts looked better in it. Via red hot Michael Thompson, who scored 13 points in a quarter, Astana took the initiative by the middle of the quarter – 15:9. Perm tried to lock down the perimeter but it led to paint problems. The hosts hit few paint open shots that let them save the lead by the second quarter – 27:21.
PARMA’s comeback was inspired by Eigirdas Zukauskas and Marcel Ponitka. After Polish guard’s shot the guests even took the lead – 29:27. Astana’s head coach Emil Rajkovikjj even had to bring red hot Thompson back on court. In the seconds quarter there were 10 lead changes. Even though, the hosts said the final word. Thompson’s drive let Astana go to half time with minimal advantage – 46:45.
Thompson’s show continued in the third. The guard set VTB League career-high easily scoring 26 points; Astana took 8-point lead – 53:45. However, Kazakhstan couldn’t develop their success. Perm got tougher at defense and started to use bigs more actively. Boris Savovic, Eigirdas Zukauskas and Mareks Mejeris scored 15 points combined. Via this, the guests cut the gap to a one possession game – 62:65.
Key moment
Final quarter’s ending was dominated by Ural’s defense. The guests locked down Thompson, without him Astana’s offense wasn’t consistent. While the hosts were trying to find their rhythm, Perm, led by Mejeris and Lorenzo Williams not only came back but started to increase advantage. With 2 minutes left on the scoreboard PARMA’s lead was 9 points – 78:69.
Astana via Nikolay Bazhin’s efforts brought the intrigue back. With 30 seconds left by the final buzzer the gap was 4 points – 78:82. However, the hosts didn’t take the decisive run. Jeremiah Hill missed all the key shots leaving no chances for Astana to succeed. Due to this victory PARMA managed to outpace Avtodor in standings and take 8th place.
Hero
Eigirdas Zukauskas .proved himself in leader’s status. The forward was leading the team for the most time of the game. As a result, the Lithuanian became the top scorer (20 Points) and the most efficient (23) player on the winners’ roster.
Stat
3 – PARMA break 3-game losing streak.
Next
Astana: April 3 @ Lokomotiv-Kuban
PARMA: April 4 vs Tsmoki-Minsk
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