Zenit Grabs 5th Place In OT!

Zenit Grabs 5th Place In OT!

Zenit Russia defeated Astana Kazakhstan at home in overtime, 103-95 (27-19, 22-31, 26-18, 12-19, 16-8).

Top scorers
Zenit: Codi Miller-McIntyre (20 + 7 reb + 5 ast), Jalen Reynolds (15 + 6 reb), Philip Scrubb (14 + 5 ast), Vladislav Trushkin (14)

Astana: Michael Jenkins (20 + 5 reb), Ken Horton (19 + 7 reb), Stephen Holt (18), J.J. O’Brien (14 + 7 reb + 5 ast)

Story
Zenit and Astana met in St. Petersburg to decide who would finish 5th in the regular season. The home team got off to a big start, scoring nine unanswered points and forcing two turnovers, which led to a quick Astana timeout. Codi Miller-McIntyre sparked the early flurry, scoring seven of the nine points. Zenit continued to build on its lead, going up by as much 15 midway through the 1st quarter, thanks to 4-6 shooting from downtown. Jalen Reynolds was a factor as well, showing no rust after his two-game suspension.

But Astana gradually slowed down the Zenit offense, thanks in part to excellent care of the ball. After the early miscues, the visitors only turned the ball over once more in the first half. 

Michael Jenkins, meanwhile, made an impact off the bench, scoring 14 points to help Astana erase its deficit and go into the break with a 50-49 lead. 

The two teams went at it in the second half. Astana struck the first blow, going up six, before five triples from the home team shifted the momentum. Zenit was on top entering the 4th quarter and led by as much as nine in the final period. 

Astana answered with three straight bombs, slicing the deficit to 83-82. 

Sergey Karasev, who was making his return from injury, had a chance to be the hero down the stretch, tossing an alley-oop and knocking down a mid-range jumper to give Zenit a five-point lead.

But the home team failed to score over the final four minutes of the 4th quarter, allowing Astana to tie the game and force overtime. 

Astana only scored four points in the first two and a half minutes of overtime, while Philip Scrubb and Evgeny Valiev gave the home team an eight-point advantage. The visitors went on to miss several chances at the free-throw line, allowing St. Petersburg to secure the crucial win.

Star
Codi Miller-McIntyre. The guard sparked Zenit’s run to start the game, helping his team pull away in the 4th quarter, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Stat
34 – number of three-point attempts by Astana, a new club record. The Kazakhs only took 31 attempts from inside the arc. 

Quotes
Zenit head coach Joan Plaza: “I can say that at the end of a regular season like this, which began with a 35-point loss in Krasnodar and featured so many problems, it was impossible to expect a different outcome. It was clear we had a tough game on our hands. I’m happy that the players were focused on getting a win and only missed two free throws. That means no one relaxed. We played like a team and earned the win.”

Astana head coach Emil Rajkovic: “I’m proud of my guys. They gave everything. At the end, we could have used our offensive rebounds a little differently, hit shots, but I’m not going to criticize anyone. This is an historic season for Astana. Now we have nothing to lose in the playoffs; we can only gain. If we lose, no one’s going to judge us, but we have a chance to do something bigger.” 

Impact
Thanks to the win, Zenit catches Astana in the win column and takes over 5th place thanks to a superior head-to-head record. Astana finishes in 6th place, while Kalev ends the season in 7th. 

Photos

27/04/2019 Zenit-Astana 103:95