VTB League: CSKA Crushes Nizhny Novgorod for Lead

VTB League

VTB League – CSKA Moscow captured an impressive win on the road against former league leader BC Nizhny Novgorod, 59-84, to take the league leadership. They handed Nizhny Novgorod its first loss, giving them a 10-1 record. CSKA then vaults ahead with their 11-1 slate. The was the first sign of weakness from the surging Novgorod franchise. To be fair, fatigue could have played a critical role in this encounter between the 2013/14 league finalists. Nizhny Novgorod just booked their seat into the Turkish Airlines Euroleague after a grueling game against Unics Kazan. CSKA, on the other hand, came into this game fresh and highly motivated to wrench away the pole position.

At the start, both teams were off their gameplan and could not get into a consistent offensive flow. The clubs found themselves in a 13-13 deadlock at the end of the first quarter. CSKA was the first to get their wits about and looked to Aaron Jackson to spark their offense into a rumbling crescendo. CSKA pulled away and were up by 35-42 as they headed to the locker rooms for the halftime break.

In the third period, CSKA continued their pressure and continuously attacked the basket, keeping up their aggression from the second frame. Nizhny’s defense was lackluster and their players found themselves often just half a step behind their opponents. Nizhny also could not buy a bucket for long stretches, which allowed their guests from Moscow to balloon their advantage to 15 points with just one quarter remaining in the game. In the final period, the hosts clearly had nothing left in their tank to mount a comeback and CSKA cruised to victory.

Nando de Colo led CSKA Moscow’s balanced offense with 13 points off the bench. Sonny Weems and Andrey Vorontsevich added 11 points each, while Aaron Jackson and Manuchar Markoishivili chipped 10 points apiece.

Trey Thompkins was Nizhny’s top performer with a game-high 15 points. Tarence Kinsey was his only teammate to hit double figures in scoring and with 11 points.

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