Zenit defeated Samara on the road – 113:64 (28:26, 34:10, 31:17, 20:11).
Game progress
Zenit spent the first quarter finding its rhythm. The guests managed to secure an advantage with good offensive rebounding and turnovers, but Samara’s high shooting efficiency (75% from the field) let the hosts to stay in the game.
The second quarter put everything in its place. Zenit began to press, forcing the opponents to commit fouls and make mistakes in offense. The hosts couldn’t cope with the guests fast offensive possessions and were already 26 points behind by halftime.
In the second half, Aleksander Sekulic team quickly doubled the lead and switched to playing with Russian players. Levi Randolph returned to the court in the final quarter, and his three-pointer that marked Zenit’s first 100 points in this regular season.
The St. Petersburg team ended the game with a 49-point lead, falling short of the result set by BETCITY PARMA (50), also against Samara.
X-factor
The guests demonstrated the most obvious advantage in offense with 26 assists (the third-best of the season). Samara had 11.
Facts
Zenit had set new season-high 113 points.
Dmitry Cheburkin (21), Levi Randolph (31), and Vladislav Emchenko (23) had the best scoring performances in the VTB League.
Nikita Mikhailovskii set a season-worst 10 turnovers.
Zenit continues its winning streak in regular season road games from last season (12 games) and is still undefeated against Samara in head-to-heads (9-0).
Leaders
Samara: Dmitry Cheburkin (21), Nikita Mikhailovskii (15 + 7 rebounds + 10 turnovers)
Zenit: Levi Randolph (31), Vladislav Emchenko (23 + 7 assists), Andrei Martiuk (19 + 13 rebounds), Alex Poythress (16 + 6 rebounds)
What’s next
Samara: October 18 at home versus MBA-MAI
Zenit: October 20 at home against Uralmash.
