By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After a two-game drought against Spanish powerhouses, Zenit St Petersburg returned to wins by taking down Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 83-54 in Round 7 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. With this win, Zenit improves to a 4-3 record and pushes itself to the upper half of the standings for the time being.
Powered by defense in the second and third quarter, Xavi Pascual’s squad contained short-staffed Baskonia to take complete control of the game, leading with as much as 65-37 by the end of the third period. The hosts’ superiority in rebounding also had a key role, as Zenit grabbed a total of 49 as opposed to Baskonia’s 21.
“Going into the locker room with a 15 point lead was crucial because after that we played the second half with more calm, shared the ball better, found open shots and executed well. It was a great night for us, we deserved a night like this, so let’s continue”, commented Pascual post-game.
Jordan Loyd rose to the occasion for Zenit once more, posting 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for his team for a total PIR of 25.
Dmitry Kulagin added 12 points on 4-out-of-6 from the three-point line and Jordan Mickey followed with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Billy Baron added up to the efforts with a late surge and finished the game with 10 points as well.
Baskonia’s 9-man rotation was led by Jayson Granger who added 13 points and 3 steals. Simone Fontecchio and Wade Baldwin both followed with 12 points, while Landry Nnoko had 9.
Dusko Ivanovic’s squad ends this week empty-handed with back-to-back defeats and falls to a 3-4 record in the standings.
Photo: EuroLeague