By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Drew Gordon scored 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked the ball thrice for 35 PIR as Zenit St. Petersburg beat Tofas Bursa 80 – 76 on the road and got the last remaining Top 16 in EuroCup Group D.
Tofas, that needed a win of at least two points in order to qualify, fell short down the stretch and was eliminated despite the efforts of Sammy Mejia (21 points, 9 rebounds) and Raymar Morgan (21 points, 4 rebounds). This was their fourth loss in a row, following a 4 – 2 entrance in the competition.
The hosts were up 64 – 62 with six minutes remaining but then Scott Reynolds scored back-to-back buckets and eight out of his 12 overall points (he also had 4 assists), in a row to put his team ahead 64 – 70. Zenit never looked back.
Apart from Gordon who had his best performance ever in European soil, registering new EuroCup career highs in points and PIR, Marko Simonovic and Sergey Karasev added 12 points apiece.