Late rally lifts Nizhny to win at Dinamo Sassari

Nizhny Novgorod picked up a second consecutive road victory by holding off Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 82-89 on Friday night. Behind a career-high 29 points from Taylor Rochestie, Nizhny used a 0-14 run late in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good and improve to 3-3 and a share of third place in Group A. Tarence Kinsey scored 15 points with 9 rebounds and Trey Thompkins amassed 13 points plus 15 rebounds in a game that saw Nizhny lead for the entire fast-paced high-scoring first half, during which each team made 8 triples on 16 attempts. A 12-0 run to start the third quarter gave Sassari a 58-53 advantage, and the leads went back and forth before Jeff Brooks opened a 74-68 margin in the fourth quarter. However, Rochestie fueled a 0-14 run that put Nizhny up for good and paved the way to victory. Art Parakhouski tallied 12 points and 3 blocks for the winners, while Evgeny Baburin scored 9 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter for Nizhny. The hosts, who dropped to 1-5, saw Rakim Sanders score 17 points, Brooks and Edgar Sosa 13 each, while Jerome Dyson netted 10. Shane Lawal pulled down 10 rebounds in the losing effort.

First quarter: Rochestie triples put Nizhny ahead

Parakhouski opened the scoring with an easy dunk, and Kinsey stripped the ball for a steal and a dunk, 0-4. David Logan opened Sassari's account with a triple, but Parakhouski had another dunk and Rochestie nailed a baseline jumper for 3-8. It was a little hectic opening, with Nizhny forcing 5 turnovers, but missing several easy shots. Sanders and Rochestie traded triples, before Sanders scored a reverse layup to make it 8-11. After Thompkins and Sanders traded baskets from close range, another giveaway from Sassari led to a triple by Rochestie. Lawal scored a put-back dunk, and Sosa had a steal and a fastbreak basket for the hosts. With the game going at the very fast pace, Rochestie answered with his third triple of the night, but Jeff Brooks hit a corner triple for the hosts, 17-21. Thompkins made a jumper for Nizhny, before Sanders hit a triple, and made a put-back on a fast break to get Sassari within 22-23. But Rochestie fed Thompkins for an alley-oop dunk, and Thompkins added another basket inside. Jerome Dyson countered with a fastbreak layup-plus-foul, but Semen Antonov hit a three-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter to make it 25-30 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Visitors hit from downtown to keep the lead

Sosa buried a triple, and Parakhouski scored a basket-plus-foul for 28-34, but scoring slowed down in the early going of the second quarter. Sosa made a runner, and Brian Saccheti nailed a triple to help get Sassari within 34-36. Thompkins and Sosa traded baskets, but a dunk from Parakhouski and a triple by Evgeny Baburin from the right corner extended it to 36-44. David Logan hit a jumper for Sassari, but Antonov and Rochestie knocked down three-pointers for 39-50. Sosa answered from downtown for the hosts, but Kinsey also nailed a shot from the right corner, just like his teammates couple possessions earlier, for 43-53. But Brooks ended the scoring in the second quarter with a three-pointer of his own, making it 46-53 at halftime.

Third quarter: Sassari rallies out of the locker rooms

Lawal scored from close range, and Sanders finished a fast break with a layup in the early going of the second half, before Dyson made a pair of free throws and buried a three-pointer for Sassari's first lead of the night, 55-53. A close range basket from Sanders made it 58-53, as Sassari did not allow a single point for more than four minutes before Rochestie made a turnaround jumper and Thompkins followed with a long jumper of his own. Nizhny went back in front as Rochestie hit from mid-range to make it 58-60 before many personal and a couple of unsportsmanlike and technical fouls disrupted the rhythm of both teams. Sacchetti nailed a wide open triple, but that was the only field goal in the final four minutes of the quarter, as Sassari used 3 of 4 from the free throw line by Miroslav Todic to hold a 65-63 lead after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: A 0-14 run paves way for Nizhny win

Todic hit a triple to get the scoring going in the quarter, before Baburin made an easy layup for Nizhny, 68-65. Giacomo Devecchi drove the baseline for reverse layup, but Baburin knocked down a three to make it a 2-point affair. Sacchetti scored from close range, and Brooks raced for a fastbreak slam to give Sassari some breathing room at 74-68 and force a Nizhny timeout. Baburin had a put-back, his seventh point in a span of less than three minutes, and Rochestie drove for a layup-plus-free throw, and followed it with a shot from way downtown, 74-76. He also added a pair of free throws, stringing together 8 points, and a baseline jumper from Kinsey made it a 74-80 advantage. Kinsey added 2 foul shots to the tally, before Dyson snapped a 0-14 run from the foul line. A triple from Brooks, the first field for the hosts in more than four minutes, cut it to 79-82 with 90 seconds to go. Baburin, Rochestie and Thompksin each split free throws, but Nizhny maintained control of the boards an built a 79-85 lead. A dunk from Brooks in the final minute gave Sassari a glimmer of hope, but Kinsey sealed it from the free throw line.