By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Thanks to one of its best shooting nights in the season so far, Strasbourg ruled the stage against Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, winning the game 85 – 94 and gaining a big advantage for the re-match. With this result, the French have been practically upgraded to being big favorite in the series, since now Nizhny has quite the difficult task ahead: Winning with a plus-nine difference on the road.
Mardy Collins was the main gunman for Strasbourg, doing lots of damage to Nizhny with his 24 points and creating big gaps to its defense with his dangerous drives. Center Romain Duport dropped 18, plus a dagger from behind the arc in the end, that might be proven crucial on the long run. A career-high of 20 points by Evgeny Baburin and 18 points by Semen Antonov were not enough for Nizhny Novgorod.
Practically everything that Strasbourg attempted on offense, worked to perfection. Vincent Collet’s players finished the game with an astounding 68% in their field goal attempts, making 10/14 of their perimeter shots. An almost insane number for a game away from home. Despite being usually extremely potent in “CEC Nagorny” arena, the hosts could not follow the rhythm of their opponents, especially during the second half.
Even under these circumstances, Nizhny could have gotten a better result, one that would increase their chances ahead of the re-match. When their opponents made it 70 – 88, 4 minutes before the end of the game, coach Bagatskis players fired consecutive baskets from downtown for a 13-0 run. But Strasbourg’s players, Collins and Duport in particular, were throwing jumpers like rocks in the ocean and put the finishing touch in their team’s favor during the last plays of the game.