Avtodor stopped Samara’s comeback on the road and won the Volga derby — 87:83 (29:16, 25:22, 12:31, 21:14)
Game progress
For both teams, the Volga derby result was extremely important – only win allowed teams to stay in the playoffs race. The losing team was automatically eliminated.
Avtodor, started the game very active. An 11:0 run discouraged the hosts and Samara scored first points only by the 4th minute of the game. By the beginning of the second quarter, Avtodor had a double-digit lead – 29:16. The Saratov team did not calm down and continued to build up the difference – Evgeniy Kolesnikov and Malik Newman helped the guests to lead by 20.
However, this was just beginning. The hosts managed to rebulid their game in the halftime. Jordan Theodore and James Ennis had a fantastic quarter and the Saratov team poor shooting percentage led to an incredible comeback – Sergey Bazarevich team took the lead by the 4th quarter (69:66).
Key moment
And yet, before the final quarter, Avtodor was able to get together. A 7:0 run by Sean Armand and Aleksandr Petenev allowed the guests to regain the lead. One of the key possessions was a 1.5 minute before the end. Petenev missed 2 free-throws – 79:76 Avtodor led. But in the next possession James Ennis made an offensive foul, the ball returned to the guests, and Malik Newman made a three – 82:76!
This shot became decisive – since the hosts stopped making shots and Ennis got fouled-out, the team no longer had time to make a comeback. Avtodor wins the Volga derby and remains in the fight for the playoffs – now everything will depend on PARMA-PARI results for the Saratov team.
Key factor
Samara amount of turnovers significantly affected the result of the game. Although Ennis-Theodore-Knight trio helped Samara to comeback, 14 turnovers combined made was crusial, and Ennis turnover became the key one.
Fact
Malik Newman played one of his best games for the Saratov team: despite poor three-points shooting percentage, he managed to score, rebound and assist. Newman traditionally played well against Samara: only in the very first Volga derby of the season, the guard scored less than 24 points.
Leaders
Samara: Jordan Theodore (26 + 6 assists), James Ennis (17 + 7 rebounds), Marcos Knight (13 + 6 rebounds)
Avtodor: Malik Newman (27 + 9 rebounds + 6 assists), Evgeniy Kolesnikov (13 + 3 steals), Sean Armand (10 + 5 assists), Brandon Garrett (10)
Next games
Samara: road game versus Enisey on March 26
Avtodor: home game against PARMA-PARI on March 25
