By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zenit Saint-Petersburg prevailed in a defensive battle defeating LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, 66-53, in France Friday.
Will Thomas went for 14 points, 12 of those coming in the second half. Alex Poythress threw in 12 more points, while Mateusz Ponitka, Billy Baron, and Arturas Gudaitis added nine apiece.
“We have been working to get wins on the road in the EuroLeague,” claimed Thomas commenting on team performances away from Saint-Petersburg, “We lost one at home against Olympiacos but we knew that if we came here and played hard, and execute our game plan, we could get the win.”
The visitors controlled the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 8 at the Astroballe by a slim margin most of the way. However, defensive stops made the advantage seem larger and a finishing 10-0 run guaranteed success.
“It was an ugly game on offense, but on defense we were solid and played a tough game,” argued Xavi Pascual, “We controlled the situation all the time, and it is very important to come through in games like this and to take this kind of victory in this moment of the competition.”
“It is very important to win this kind of game, especially away, here in France, where it is always hard to play,” added Ponitka, “We have a really good group of guys and the coaches are doing an amazing job with us.”
The French club was hoping to bounce back after the poor defensive outing and loss to Crvena Zvezda mts Wednesday, but playing catchup throughout the last three quarters did not work in its favor.
“We showed a different face defensively, it was much better,” mentioned head coach T.J. Parker, “Again, offensively we had turnovers but we made it a one-possession, two-possession game with 2 minutes left.”
Charles Kahudi despite his 14 points did not prevent the drop to 1-5. Moustapha Fall and David Lighty finished with ten points each. Norris Cole and William Howard were out.
The Russian outlet upped its record to 3-1 ahead of next Tuesday’s home game bringing in Khimki Moscow Region. Up next for ASVEL, ALBA Berlin on the road Wednesday.