Nizhny Novgorod and CSKA have met in the postseason each of the last two seasons and Sunday's game marked the 11th time the two teams had met in the last three years.
Nizhny boasted a 3-1 record, while CSKA entered with a 3-0 perfect record. It must be noted, however, that the Army Men were playing their second road game in three days after defeating Dinamo Sassari in Italy on Friday night.
Led by Maxim Grigoryev, Nizhny started hot. But CSKA matched the home team shot for shot and even led late in the period before Nizhny tied it up, 15-15, on a Rasid Mahalbasic jumper.
19-year-old Ivan Viktorov helped Nizhny race to a 24-18 lead early in the 2nd quarter. The young Russian guard knocked down two 3's and a pair of free throws for his first points of the 2015-16 season.
Playing from behind all quarter, CSKA managed to even the score at halftime, 29-29.
Led by Milos Teodosic, CSKA set the tone in the 3rd quarter, going up by as much as nine midway through the period. Both teams were productive on offense, combining for 57 points in the quarter, compared to 58 in the first half.
Viktorov and Vladimir Ivlev kept the home team close, limiting CSKA's lead to 60-55 entering the final period.
Defense returned in the 4th quarter. Nizhny held the visitors to seven points over the first 7:31 to take a 68-67 lead. With 36 seconds to play, Nizhny continued to cling to a one-point advantage, 72-71, with possession belonging to CSKA.
Desperate for a basket, the Army Men couldn't even get a shot off, turning the ball over on a shot-clock violation. At the other end, Kaspars Berzins hit two free throws to make it a 74-71 game with 10 seconds on the clock.
Once again, CSKA came up empty as Kyle Hines missed twice from the charity stripe. Nizhny's Semen Antonov grabbed the rebound, but stepped out of bounds, giving the Army Men one final chance at salvation.
This time, they didn't blink. Nando De Colo drew a foul on a desperation '3' and calmly converted all three freebies to force overtime!
Nizhny let victory slip away in regulation, but recovered quickly. CSKA looked fatigued and the home team took advantage, grabbing a four-point lead in the final minute. The visitors twice cut the deficit to two points, but Nizhny made four clutch free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Ainars Bagatskis:
- As long as we played like we'd agreed, we got the result we wanted. As soon as we started to goof off, CSKA punished us. But we also took good advantage of the opportunities CSKA gave us. We were a little nervous in the final minutes. With a second and a half left, we decided the game was over and CSKA used that time to send it to overtime. We could have even let them score in the paint, but what we did was not okay. It's easy, though, to say what to do. It's more difficult to execute on the court.
Even though it hurt to give away the win in regulation, credit to the team for coming together and pulling out the win. This game should help us gel. I hope everything will go well from now on.
Nizhny Novgorod landed Sean Denison
BC Nizhny Novgorod signed a one-year deal with Canadian bigman Sean Denison (211 cm, 111 kg, 32 y.o.). Last season he spent in Romanian CSM Oradea, participating in the national championship and Basketball Champions League. From 2011 till 2013 he played in Russian clubs Spartak-Primorye and Ataman.
Nizhny Novgorod terminated the contract with American forward Erik McCree who’d joined the team this august. The decision was made by mutual agreement. At the moment Nizhny is in search of a new player for the vacant place.
BC Nizhny Novgorod signed Erik McCree
BC NN signed a two-year contract with American forward Erik McCree (23 y.o., 203 cm, 102 kg). From 2013 to 2017 he was playing for Louisiana Tech in NCAA. Last season he showed his best statistics averaging 17,7 points, 8,9 rebounds, 1,3 assists in 33 games.
Sterling Gibbs joins BC Nizhny Novgorod
BC NN signed a two-year deal with American point guard Sterling Gibbs (188cm, 84kg, 24 y.o). In his college years he played for Seton Hall Pirates and Connecticut Huskies in NCAA. In 2016-2017 spent his first season overseas as he joined Hungarian team Kormend. He helped the team to semifinals in Hungarian Cup and Hungarian League averaging 14,4 points, 2,1 rebounds, 3,3 assists in 27 games.
