By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Astana gambled away the early lead but prevailed 93-71 over Riga in the VTB League after a furious fourth quarter.
Alexander Zhigulin led the winning side with game-high 23 points while Geoffrey Grosselle flirted with a double-double adding 18 points and nine rebounds. For Riga, Steve Zack and Andrejs Grazulis scored 15 points each.
After a fairly balanced first quarter (25-23), Astana took over the control and went on the halftime rest with a 54-37 lead. Riga managed to come back after the break decreasing the deficit to just two points (64-62) but Astana dominated the last period (29-9) and, in the end, recorded a big win.
Over the weekend, Anthony Gill stepped up for Khimki in the absence of Alexey Shved against Avtodor while perfect Nando De Colo led CSKA to an easy win over Tsmoki.
Astana improved to 4-3 while Riga remains on the bottom with a 1-7 record. CSKA and Khimki remain undefeated at the top (8-0) while Unics is below with a 6-1 record.
VTB weekly results and scorers
Unics Kazan – Nizhny Novgorod 89-64 (Henry 15 p. – Perry 14 p.)
Enisey – Zielona Gora 109-81 (Roberson 25 p. 9 a. – Starks 15 p. 7 a.)
Khimki – Saratov 85-77 (Gill 24 p. – Golden 20 p.)
Lokomotiv – Parma 93-75 (McLean 16 p. 11 r. – Justice 16 p. 6 r.)
CSKA – Tsmoki 119-88 (De Colo 15 p. – Shelton 17 p.)
Zenit – Kalev 100-87 (Reynolds 17 p. 7 r. – Mirkovic 17 p. 8 a.)
VEF Riga – Astana 71-93 (Zack 15 p. – Zhigulin 23 p.)
Photo Credit: VTB United League