Avtodor Saratov defeated PARMA Perm at home, 93-76 (25-16, 26-26, 23-17, 19-17).
Top Scorers
Avtodor: David Kravish (23 + 8 reb), Boris Savovic (20 + 9 reb), Trae Golden (12 + 10 ast)
PARMA: Ivan Lazarev (15), Kodi Justice (14), Janis Blums (12 + 6 ast), Rashard Kelly (12 + 8 reb)
Story
Avtodor picked up its fourth win in five games, dominating PARMA in a 93-76 win at home. Saratov was led by 23 points from David Kravish, while Trae Golden recorded a double-double (12 points and 10 assists). The Volga club is now 6-6, back at .500 for the first time since early November.
The home team was in control from start to finish, trailing only briefly 3-2 after an Eigirdas Zukauskas triple in the 1st quarter.
A 9-0 run sparked by seven points from Kravish gave Avtodor an early double-digit lead (16-5). The American forward finished the period with 11 points, staking his team to a 25-16 advantage.
PARMA played its best basketball in the 2nd quarter, matching Avtodor’s high-powered offense with 26 points. Ivan Lazarev, who scored a team-high 15, poured in eight early in the period, but Saratov always had an answer. Despite briefly cutting the deficit to five, PARMA wasted Lazarev’s breakout quarter and headed into halftime down nine, 51-42.
The home team began to pull away midway through the 3rd quarter. With PARMA lurking, 55-48, after a Kodi Justice 3-ball, Avtodor went on a 13-2 run to jump ahead by 18.
PARMA didn’t quit, clawing back to within nine, 82-73, thanks to a couple of Janis Blums’ triples. But it was too little too late. Boris Savovic slammed the door shut for Avtodor, scoring six unanswered as Saratov went on to secure its sixth win of the season.
Stat
44 – number of points scored by Avtodor in the paint (Perm scored 22).
Quotes
Avtodor head coach Dusan Alimpijevic: “I’m very happy with how we won this game and played today. As I said before, it’s important for us to play team basketball. The first positive for me has to do with the fact we only gave up 16 points in the 1st quarter and 17 each in the 3rd and 4th quarters. That speaks to a very high level of concentration and processing by the players on our team. Second, I’m also proud of our 26 assists. That means we really played like a team on defense and offense with good teamwork. It’s important for us to keep moving in this direction, because we there will always be ups and downs, but we always need to keep playing with just as much effort.”
PARMA head coach Nikolajs Mazurs: “We had a tough time battling Avtodor, because we got into foul trouble fighting for loose balls and rebounds. Those resulted in about 20 free throws. For that reason, it was tough to slow down their offense in the paint. Plus, we also missed a lot of open shots, which is not acceptable in an up-tempo game. That’s a big reason we weren’t able to take advantage of our opportunities and get back in the game, even though we cut the deficit to nine in the final quarter.”
Photos
