By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Three days after losing at home to Fenerbahce Beko in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 14, Zenit Saint Petersburg bounced back by logging the win, 90-74, against Nizhny Novgorod and moving up to 6-1 in the VTB United League Regular Season.
Conner Frankamp starred banking a season-high 20 points behind 6/9 field goals in Sunday’s contest. He also dished out six assists. Jordan Mickey was 6/7 from the field, including 5/5 two-pointers, to follow with 16 points to his name.
Shabazz Napier and Dmitry Kulagin remained out. Jordan Loyd and Billy Baron did not suit up for the game opposite the Basketball Champions League Regular Season outlet.
Russian forward Anton Astapkovich dropped a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the losing effort.
Earlier, UNICS Kazan jumped up to 8-1 thanks to the rout of Kalev/Cramo, 71-54. Mario Hezonja tallied 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Isaiah Canaan and Lorenzo Brown sat out.
Avtodor Saratov sits between the EuroLeague clubs in the VTB standings at 7-1, while CSKA Moscow follows packing a 5-2 W-L tally. Lokomotiv Kuban and Nizhny Novgorod carry 5-3 and 4-4 records, respectively.
Coming up in the two-game week of the 2021-22 EuroLeague Regular Season, Zenit will travel to France to meet LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and AS Monaco, while UNICS will visit CSKA and host Zalgiris Kaunas. Both sides will be in action Wednesday and Friday.
Sunday VTB results:
UNICS Kazan – Kalev/Cramo 71-54
Zenit Saint Petersburg – Nizhny Novgorod 90-74