PARMA beat Zielona Gora at home – 91:76 (21:22, 28:22, 30:15, 12:17)
Top Scorers
PARMA: Eigirdas Zukauskas (18 + 8 rebounds), Maxim Grigoryev (15), Lorenzo Williams (11 + 7 assists).
Zielona Gora: Ludvig Hakanson (13 + 8 assists), Tony Meier (13), Drew Gordon (8 + 12 rebounds).
Story
PARMA and Zielona Gora compete for playoffs. Both teams had 7-10 record before this game and the Russians – ranked 7th – were leading due to tie-break regulations. Zielona Gora dictated the first quarter, gained 7-point lead after 3 consecutive three-pointers (20:13). PARMA matched with Eigirdas Zukauskas’ performance to erase the deficit (21:22). The second quarter was a showtime of Perm snipers. Maxim Grigoryev after his recent debut in the national team needed 1.5 minutes to take the lead (27:24), Adas Juskevicius and Nikolai Zhmako added three-pointers to increase the lead (35:28). The Ural team were leading by 5 (49:44) after the first half, but the storm was coming later.
Key moment
In the third quarter, PARMA made five 3-pointers (two by Zhmako). Zielona Gora tried to answer by Ludvig Hakanson’s plays, but it was not enough as the hosts gained double-digit lead by mid-quarter (62:51). At that moment, led by the crowded Molot, PARMA made a 11:0 run (73:54) which practically ended the game. PARMA stay at 5th place, and Zielona Gora dropped from top 8.
Hero
Eigirdas Zukauskas. The Lithuanian became the top scorer of the night (18 points) and helped PARMA dominate the paint (8 rebounds).
Stat
15 three-pointers made by PARMA. Perm matched own season best result which was set in November (Zielona Gora again).
Comment
PARMA head coach Kazys Maskvytis:
“It’s a pleasure to play at Molot with such an atmosphere. We’re happy that our fans have been believing in the team and stay with us until now. Thanks to the fans of Perm, we play for them, and it’s a huge pleasure to play with Molot’s support. I’ve seen places, and I think here we have a great atmosphere. Congrats to my team, plan A is complete, I wish we could also complete plan B – win by more than 18. Thanks to the team for staying together, acting by the plan and winning!”
Zielona Gora head coach Zan Tabak:
“For me the game was over from the very beginning. We haven’t showed what we had to. Since the first quarter, the opponents outran us physically, we didn’t gave proper intensity, and they were more aggressive.”
Next
PARMA: March 15 at Tsmoki-Minsk
Zielona Gora: March 7 at Tsmoki-Minsk
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