Zenit scores 69 in second half to race past Parma, 119-86 (24-23, 26-21, 34-13, 35-29).
Top Scorers
Parma: Danilo Andjusic (29), Sasa Zagorac (22+7 reb), Sergei Chernov (11)
Zenit: Ryan Toolson (29), Sergey Karasev (23), Janis Timma (14), Artem Vikhrov (12+10 ast)
Turning Point
Parma was competitive in the first half behind point guard Danilo Andjusic’s 17 points and a strong debut from Slovenian forward Sasa Zagorac.
At halftime, the score was 50-44 in favor of Zenit, a very manageable deficit for the home team.
But St. Petersburg wasted no time seizing control in the 3rd quarter. Janis Timma scored seven points in the opening two minutes to help Zenit to a 12-0 run and 18-point lead.
Parma never threatened again, getting outscored 34-13 in the period and giving up an incredible 69 points in the second half.
Zenit has now scored 233 points in its last two games (114 in the win vs. Khimki), while improving to 9-3 in the League.
Parma drops to 0-13 with a week and a half to prepare for a trip to Tallinn to face 12th-place Kalev.
Stat
30 – Zenit collected 30 assists, indicative of the team’s efficiency on offense.
Quotes
Parma head coach Viacheslav Shushakov:
– We executed our game plan for two quarters. Some things worked, others didn’t, but the second half canceled out all our efforts. Recent games show that if we do what we’ve planned for the entire 40 minutes, then we can put up a serious fight. We can’t afford to relax even for a second.
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– Congratulations to the team on the win. I know for myself how hard it is to play in Perm when 7,000 fans are supporting the home team. It makes you play with double the energy. We decided the outcome in the first four minutes of the 3rd quarter, when we played really well on defense and picked up a comfortable lead.
Up Next
Parma: January 26 at Kalev
Zenit: January 21 at Astana
Snapshot
