Nizhny Novgorod ties VTB League playoff series with historical win over CSKA

For the first time in history, Nizhny Novgorod beat CSKA in the VTB League (76-72). The score is now 1-1- in the series.

In the first game of the quarter-final series, Nizhny Novgorod struggled for a long time with CSKA on equal footing. The second game followed the same script. There was an energetic start by CSKA, but Anton Astapkovich and Sergey Toropov kept Nizhny alive. Shortly before the end of the first quarter, Aleksandre Gavrilovic put the home team ahead for the first time, 15-13.

CSKA Moscow briefly regained the lead in the second 10 minutes, going up by 6 via Will Clyburn and Johannes Voigtmann. However, Toropov evened the score, and Kasey Shepherd hit the buzzer to give Nizhny Novgorod the lead heading into halftime, just as he had done in the first game.

The third quarter didn’t radically change the game, although now Nizhny continued to hold the initiative, while CSKA kept chasing.

At the beginning of the final stretch, the key moment was when CSKA grabbed a five-point lead, but Nizhny fought back. Evgeny Baburin, Andrey Vorontsevich and Anton Astapkovich bombarded the basket. Astapkovich was especially impressive in the end, scoring seven points in a row. With 27 seconds left before the final whistle, Nizhny led 74-72 and had the ball.

CSKA committed a tactical foul on Ivan Strebkov, who could nearly guarantee Nizhny Novgorod the win, but failed to hit his first free throw. With 75-72, CSKA had 15 seconds to turn the tide. Evgeny Baburin’s aggressive defense made Daniel Hackett miss a shot from beyond the arc. Will Clyburn managed to pick up the ball on offense and made another three-point attempt, which also failed. Nizhny Novgorod beat CSKA for the first time in the playoffs, and the series returns to Moscow.