VEF defeated Nizhny Novgorod on the road, 81-74 (19-23, 26-21, 16-13, 20-17).
Top Scorers
Nizhny Novgorod: DeAndre Kane (21), Kenny Boynton (14), Petr Gubanov (12), Dijon Thompson (9+9 reb+4 stl)
VEF: Janis Blums (19), Armands Skele (16), Martins Meiers (10+6 reb)
Intro
Looking to protect the home court, Nizhny Novgorod jumped to a 15-5 lead behind a pair of Tomislav Zubcic 3-pointers.
But VEF responded quickly, closing within four, 23-19. The visitors went on to outscore Nizhny 17-6 early in the 2nd quarter, grabbing a seven-point advantage.
Led by DeAndre Kane’s 10-point flurry to end the period, Nizhny only trailed by a point at halftime, 45-44.
Late in the 3rd quarter, it looked like VEF might pull away.
Blums broke a 53-53 tie with a four-point play and the visitors enjoyed a four-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
But Nizhny quickly erased the deficit to open the 4th quarter and led by as much as four, 69-65, with under five minutes to go.
Turning Point
Once again, Blums was the man to key VEF’s run. Back-to-back 3-pointers put Riga on top by two, 71-69. Kane briefly tied the game for Nizhny, before a 6-1 run gave VEF a five-point advantage with under two minutes remaining.
Nizhny had chances down the stretch… Dijon Thompson missed a pair of free throws that would have made it a one-point game, but VEF was able to hang on, icing the outcome with four straight free throws in the final seconds.
Impact
VEF improves to 7-5 with the win, one and a half games clear of 7th-place Astana. Nizhny, on the other hand, drops into a tie for 10th place with Tsmoki-Minsk, one and a half games back of Enisey for the final playoff spot.
Stat
16-30 – Nizhny did a great job of getting to the free-throw line, earning 30 attempts, but could only convert 16. That was the difference in the game.
Quotes
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Arturs Stalbergs:
– The results are clear to see in the box score. We missed 14 free throws in a close game. If we hit those shots from the line, we would have had the win in hand. That said, we were finally able to keep our opponent to around 80 points. Our new addition, Dijon Thompson, didn’t have it easy today, given he arrived this week and only practiced once with the team. A lot of guys on the team are also having some health issues, which had an impact. We aren’t able to play to our maximum potential right now.
VEF head coach Janis Gailitis:
– We were able to play quality basketball on the road against a very dangerous team. Nizhny Novgorod has very talented individual players. Even though they aren’t in the best physical or mental condition, playing against them is never easy. First of all, we needed to stop Nizhny’s snipers and win the rebounding battle, which we were able to do. Both teams were motivated to win, so the rhythm was a little choppy. But Nizhny missed 14 free throws today, which is a lot in this type of game.
Up Next
Nizhny Novgorod: January 28 vs. Avtodor
VEF: January 29 vs. Khimki
Snapshot
