CSKA Moscow, Russia vs. «Nizhny Novgorod» Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

CSKA Moscow overcame Nizhny Novgorod at home, 98-65. The Army Men took the lead in the opening minutes, before delivering the knockout blow in the 3rd quarter (31-9). CSKA takes revenge for the October loss in Nizhny Novgorod and extends its winning streak to 17.

Recap
The Army Men's only regular-season defeat came against Nizhny Novgorod. Not surprisingly, the home team was spoiling for revenge on Monday.

Despite several major setbacks since then, Nizhny Novgorod qualified for the Eurocup playoffs on Wednesday by defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv.

October hero Ivan Lazarev started the game for the visitors, who had to play without Victor Rudd and Vladimir Ivlev.

CSKA's defense dominated the opening period. The Army Men gave Nizhny little room to operate, contesting nearly every shot. The visitors needed almost the entire quarter to crack double digits, while giving up 23 points.

Nizhny was better on offense in the 2nd quarter, but the Muscovites never let the visitors get close. CSKA continued to pound the ball in the paint and got 10 different players to score in the first half (44-32).

The game was decided in the 3rd quarter. CSKA's defense suffocated the visitors, allowing a measly nine points in the period. Captain Semyon Antonov even missed a dunk. Thanks to a 31-9 advantage in the quarter, the Army Men cruised to victory in the 4th.

Star Player
Nando De Colo. CSKA got excellent play from the entire team, but the Frenchman was the most productive, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in only 16 minutes.

Stat of the Game
74 - CSKA's two-point field-goal percentage.

Quotes
CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis:
- Congratulations to my team on another win. Nizhny dealt us our only loss so far in the VTB United League, which is why we had an especially serious approach to our opponent. Of course, our visitors did not bring a full roster, but we were still stronger and played well, especially in the 1st and 3rd quarters, which we won by a combined score of 54-20. Nonetheless, Nizhny Novgorod is playing well. I want to congratulate them on reaching the next round of the Eurocup and wish them success in the future.

Nizhny Novgorod head coach Ainars Bagatskis:
- We wavered in front of CSKA. We respected our opponent too much. Our players need to battle and be aggressive. You're allowed to be aggressive in sports and we should have been more physical in certain instances. During the first half, we had more possessions, but we weren't always ready to make the right decision. After halftime, the defense was better and offense was decent, but we didn't hit our shots. CSKA was more aggressive at times than we expected and deserved to win, but we could have played better... We simply flinched.