«Nizhny Novgorod» Nizhny Novgorod, Russia vs. «Vita» Tbilisi, Georgia

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Highlights

Nizhny Novgorod Catches Nymburk

Nizhny Novgorod defeated Vita at home, 97-65. Tbilisi played well in the first half and only trailed by eight at the break, but Nizhny locked down on defense over the final 20 minutes to earn a victory.

Recap
Prior to the game, Nizhny management announced a Root for 100! promo, which promised a gift to every fan in attendance if Nizhny scored more than 100 points. Winning, of course, was still top priority as the home team had an opportunity to catch Nymburk in the standings with a victory.

Vita had every intention of making Nizhny work for the win. Despite giving up 53 points in the first half, the visitors trailed by just eight at the break.

But an eight-man rotation began to have an effect on Vita's energy. Nizhny tightened the screws defensively in the second half, giving up a measly four points in the 3rd quarter. Leading by 21 with 10 minutes to go, the fans began cheering for Nizhny to reach the century mark. Despite scoring 27 in the final quarter, Nizhny finished three points shy.

Nonetheless, Ainars Bagatskis's men improve to 10-8 and move into a tie for 7th with Nymburk, three games up on 9th-place Oktyabr.

Star Player
Vladimir Ivlev. The Russian forward played like a leader, recording a double-double in 25 minutes (23 points, 10 rebounds) and dishing out three assists.

Stat of the Game
26-12 - Nizhny had 14 more assists than Vita.

Quotes
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Ainars Bagatskis:
- The game went as we expected. Vita regularly made us pay for mistakes in the first half. But I said before the game that our pressure would eventually have an effect. That's what happened. We played with an all-Russian roster today. I'm happy for the guys that haven't had much playing time. They had a chance to show themselves today.

Vita head coach Nikolai Mazurs:
- It's evident that we lack the resources to play a complete game. We have some success in the first half, but after halftime we can't execute at all. But we'll work with what we have and hope for the best.

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