Zenit beat Avtodor on the road – 89:62 (31:14, 17:13, 15:26, 26:9).
Top scorers
Avtodor: Dusan Ristic (16 + 9 rebounds), Nate Mason (12), Zeljko Sakic (8 + 8 rebounds).
Zenit: Austin Hollins (26 + 6 rebounds), Kevin Pangos (12 + 12 assists), Tarik Black (11 + 7 rebounds).
Story
Zenit with 17-3 record were leading the standings confidently. Avtodor (8-11) with 3 to 7 record in latest 10 games fell down to 8th place and released Gordie Herbert making Vladislav Konovalov acting head coach.
Zenit were dominating during first minutes. The guests paced up since the middle of the quarter. Austin Hollins and Kevin Pangos threes and Tarik Black active actions in paint let Petersburg make 15-5 run and take comfortable lead after the quarter – 31:14. In the second quarter Petersburg via Hollins’ efforts continued to fire from down town and increased the lead up to 20 points – 48:27.
Avtodor managed to take over the game after the big break. Volga locked down the perimeter and started to push the paint where Dusan Rustic and Zeljko Sakic looked good. Winning the quarter in double digits Avtodor got close to the opponents to 10 points – 53:63.
Anyway, Avtodor didn’t manage to complete the comeback and finish the chase. In the fourth quarter Zenit paced up at defense allowing only 9 points, only this was enough for the win. However, Hollins was on fire for Zenit supported by Alex Poythress and Tarik Black in the paint. League’s leader proved their status and made it to the 18th victory. Despite the defeat Avtodor save the 8th place.
Hero
Austin Hollins. The American was Zenit’s first offensive option scoring 26 points. Hollins helped Petersburg create the gap and save it in the fourth.
Stat
12 – Kevin Pangos set career-high in assists in a single game.
Comments
Avtodor acting head coach Vladislav Konovalov:
– Perhaps, in the first quarter we were too nervous. We wanted to play more aggressively at defense and much more creative at offense. We tried to find open shots, we did it rarely. Maybe, it was the key factor tonight. We allowed the opponents many open shots, were bad at defense on the weak side during opponents’ ball movement while rotating the players. Our offense wasn’t well-arranged, we were depending on individual skills. In the third quarter we showed the spirit and tried to catch the guests but did the same mistakes in the final quarter, it caused the defeat. Zenit is not that kind of team that forgive the mistakes.
Zenit head coach Xavi Pascual:
– Firstly, we are happy we won. I want to wish Avtodor the best in the ending of the season. This is one of the games I’m satisfied with fully, from the beginning to the end. I think we showed good level of basketball on both ends of the floor tonight. Only in the first when Avtodor started to change game’s rhythm we weren’t that efficient. But this was the only moment of concentration loss. In the final quarter we controlled the game and took deserved win. Now I’m especially happy with our 3-game winning streak.
Next
Avtodor: April 3 vs Nizhny Novgorod
Zenit: April 5 vs CSKA
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