Pari Nizhny Novgorod confidently defeated MBA on the road, set a team high of the season in points scored by the opponents and beat the Moscow team in the standings — 88:55 (18:16, 27:8, 21:11, 22:20).
Game progress
The Moscow team completed the first stage of the regular season in the Top 4 and just a few days ago pleased their fans with a fantastic win over the reigning champion. Pari Nizhny Novgorod had the same stats — the 5th place and only 1 win less, so the game promised to be equal. To beat MBA in the standings, Nizhny Novgorod had to win by 8 or more points.
However, Zoran Lukic team decided to immediately take the control of the game. Although the first quarter was equal and ended with the guests minimal lead, problems with MBA squad appeared. Immediately after the start of the second quarter, Nikola Rebic, Jermaine Love and Ivan Strebkov demonstrated the complete guests’ bench domination over MBA. A 9:1 run helped the Volga team to secure a double-digit lead over Vasily Karasev team – 27:17.
Pari NN did not calm down and continued to increase the lead. The guests defense did not give a single chance to MBA, and Daniil Aksenov, who had just moved from Astana, could not become a key player for Moscow team in his first game, scoring only 1 point in the first half. The Volga team won the second quarter 27:8 and secured a comfortable difference by the end of the first half – 45:24.
MBA fans still had hope for a second incredible comeback in a row, but Pari NN did not allow it to happen, only increasing their lead. Zoran Lukic team took a convincing revenge for the defeat in October and got at the 4th place in the standings.
Key factor
Nizhny Novgorod defense. In the regular season, Nizhny Novgorod has not allowed its opponents score more than 60 points 4 times, but in the gam e with MBA demonstrated its best defense of the season — 55 points. Not a single MBA player has been able to score more that 10 points.
Fact
Daniil Aksenov is unlucky in games with Pari Nizhny Novgorod: for the third time in a season, his team (first Astana, now MBA) gets a loss with a 20 or more points difference.
Leaders
MBA: Daniil Kasatkin (6 + 6 rebounds)
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Jermaine Love (17 + 4 steals), Aleksandr Gankevich (15), Dragan Apic (12 + 5 rebounds), Evgenii Baburin (12), Nikola Rebic (10)
Next game
MBA: road game versus CSKA on January 29
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: road game against UNICS on January 30
