Avtodor Saratov defeated Zenit St. Petersburg on the road, 93-79 (27-16, 34-20, 20-16, 12-27).
Top Scorers
Zenit: Kyle Kuric (18), Sergey Karasev (17 + 6 reb + 7 ast), Evgeny Voronov (12)
Avtodor: Coty Clarke (23 + 6 reb), Ian Hummer (16 + 7 reb), Branden Frazier (13), Micah Downs (11 + 7 reb)
Story
Avtodor was completely dominant in St. Petersburg, stunning the home team with 61 points in the first half, then cruising to a 93-79 win in the second.
Saratov outscored Zenit 62-36 in the paint, shooting 68% from inside the arc to record its 9th win of the season and keep pace with Khimki for 5th place.
Coty Clarke led the visitors with 23 points and six rebounds, Ian Hummer chipped in with 16 + 7, as Avtodor snapped a two-game skid.
After opening the season 11-2, Zenit has dropped three of four to fall a half game behind Lokomotiv-Kuban for 3rd place.
Stat
65% – Avtodor’s overall field-goal percentage, the second-best mark of the season. Zenit shot only 42% from the field.
Quotes
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– I want to apologize to everyone who came to the Yubileyny today and to all of the fans. They did not deserve this type of game from us. We have a problem. Some of the players have decided the season is already over for them. I said in the locker room that if this continues, only the guys who want to play are going to play.
Avtodor head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– This was a very big win for us. We lost big at home and knew that Zenit likes to run the break and shoot 3-pointers. We did a good job against their perimeter players–Kuric, Karasev, Harper and Simonovic–in the first three quarters. We didn’t let them get open looks and go one-on-one, which had a result. Plus, unlike the game with Kalev, we didn’t lose the rebounding battle today.
Up Next
Zenit: April 7 home vs. Lokomotiv-Kuban
Avtodor: April 5 home vs. UNICS
Images of the Game
