By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Zenit St Petersburg survived Crvena Zvezda on the road to grab an 80-76 victory in overtime for Round 18 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to extend their winning streak to four games in the final game of the year.
Billy Baron led the way for Zenit with a new season-high performance of 25 points (5/9 threes) against his former team, along with 6 assists and 4 rebounds and a key performance in the second half.
Jordan Mickey added up to the efforts with 13 points, while Alex Poythress had 6 points and 10 rebounds.
With the two teams neck to neck in the final three minutes, Alex Poythress was charged with a foul on Luka Mitrovic with 1:19 remaining in the game and Zvezda with possession. Jordan Loyd got his first field goal of the night to tie the score again at 69 points and the game was forced to overtime after the hosts failed to convert at the end of regulation.
The Russian side got the best of their hosts in the extra five-minute period and with an 11-7 run, they celebrated a hard-fought win in Belgrade.
“It was an excellent game, I think, for everybody, for all the supporters. Both teams could have won, and I have to congratulate Crvena Zvezda for this game also”, said Zenit coach Xavi Pascual after the game. “It is a serious team, defensively and offensively, going ball by ball, action by action, defense by defense, offense by offense. I think it was a great game with an amazing atmosphere. When we are playing here, it is amazing. You can feel it inside yourself, and we are very happy tonight.”
Nate Wolters also exited the game with a new season-high of 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Austin Hollins tapped 15 points and Nikola Kalinic posted 13 for Dejan Radonjic’s squad. Zvezda slipped its second straight game to fall to a 7-11 record.
Photo: EuroLeague