By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In the Russian showdown that opened the Eurocup Top 16 stage, Nizhny Novgorod made an impressive entrance by beating Zenit St. Petersburg 113 – 105 in Group G.
Nizhny performed incredibly well as a squad, but DeAndre Kane truly stood out among his teammates. The American guard registered a season-high 31 points (13/16 from the field), grabbed 9 rebounds and had a total of 39 in PIR, also a season best.
Despite 7 turnovers, Ivan Strebkov was also super with 18 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds while Tomislav Zubzic added 14. For Zenit, Stefan Markovic dropped 17 points and dished out 5 assists, Kyle Landry had 16 plus 6 rebounds and Ryan Toolson 16 points.
As you can easily guess from looking at the final result, the game was nothing less than a scoring fiesta. Both teams scored abundantly, paying zero attention to defense, particularly during the first half which finished 58 – 54.
It was in the third quarter that Nizhny got an ultimately game-winning advantage. Without down-tuning their rhythm, coach Stalbergs’ players shut down their opponents to get a double-digit lead, 83 – 70 ahead of the fourth period.
While Zenit regained its offensive mojo, the hosts were hot enough to stay out of trouble and win the match.