CSKA beat Zenit in the 3rd Place Series Game 5 – 82:79 (21:11, 22:25, 14:22, 25:21).
Game progress
CSKA had only one win left to get the bronze series. The Moscow team started with an early lead. Zenit’s offense also helped CSKA as the guests missed 7 of their 3-pointers in a row early in the game. That gave the hosts a double-digit lead – 21:11. But in the second quarte, the guests regained their shooting: Caleb Homesley made 2 shots, Vitaly Fridzon scored and Zenit managed to comeback. The Army team responded with three-pointers streak and ended the first half with the lead – 43:36.
The guests took over at the beginning of the third quarter. Adrien Moerman and Caleb Homesley helped to organise another Zenit 16-5 run. At that time, only Samson Ruzhentsev scored for CSKA. The hosts were unable to regain the initiative in the final quarter as Thomas Heurtel made a three-pointer. Zenit kept their lead before the final quarter – 59:58.
Key moment
At the beginning of the final quarter, Zenit continued to scre threes and got an 8-point lead. Bub CSKA timeout helped to slow down the pace, and Dallas Moore had a bright segment, which helped Emil Rajkovic’s team to cut the lead to 1 point. The rest of the game was a constant battle. The game went into clutch. With 30 seconds to go, Zenit took a 1-point lead – 79:78.
Dejan Davidovac shined here as well. First, he scored after Livio Jean-Charles assist, and then provoked Sergey Toropov to commit an offensive foul. Zenit had no choice but to foul and after Samson Ruzhentsev’s made free-throws, hoped to score a three-pointer. However, Tomas Heurtel missed the shot. CSKA won the Series 4-1 and took the United League bronze medals.
Key factor
Despite some key actions by Dejan Davidovac, the real key factor was Dallas Moore – the Army team guard not only led CSKA in scoring, but also played brilliantly in the end, allowing the hosts to catch up with a struggling Zenit.
Fact
After a poor start (the biggest home loss), CSKA won 4 games in a row.
Leaders
CSKA: Dallas Moore (15), Casper Ware (14), Samson Ruzhentsev (11 + 5 rebounds)
Zenit: Adrien Moerman (17 + 8 rebounds), Thomas Heurtel (13), Caleb Homesley (12)
