By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Kasey Shepherd led the way for Nizhny Novgorod which improved to 3-1 in Basketball Champions League Group D with a 78-65 home win over Pszczolka Start Lublin which lost all chances to advance and is now 0-4.
Shepherd banked in game-high 22 points while adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Luke Petrasek added 14 and Artem Komolov ten points.
For the away squad, Martins Laksa scored 16 and Yannick Franke 11 points.
The Russian team went ahead 19-14 after ten minutes, 38-30 at halftime and they stayed ahead for the rest of the match as well. Start Lublin had a fair share of comeback efforts (55-52) but Nizhny’s 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter decided the outcome.
Although the Polish team had more success in the fast-breaks, Nizhny’s advantage came from a deep bench that outscored the opponent 44-18 and much of those points came off turnovers.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League