By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Billy Baron and Jordan Loyd combined for 39 points and nine 3-pointers as Zenit St. Petersburg beat CSKA Moscow 81 – 68 in the VTB League game of the week. It was Zenit’s first match since January 4 and after the team’s recovery from multiple coronavirus cases.
Baron finished with 20 points on 6-8 triples while Loyd posted 19 points, five rebounds and five assists for a Zenit team that constantly led after the first period (21-21) and was up by double figures in the entire second half. Their shooting made a big difference since Zenit finished with 11-20 threes while CSKA had 6-26 from the perimeter.
While CSKA dominated the boards 37 – 29 and grabbed six more offensive rebounds than Zenit, they also committed 19 turnovers and were unable to be as efficient as the hosts. Nikola Milutinov (16 points, eight rebounds) and Alexey Shved (10 points, 3-12 shots) scored in double figures for CSKA.
Zenit and CSKA are both 8-3 and tied at the third place in the VTB standings.