Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Enisey Krasnoyarsk at home on Friday, 85-73 (27-24, 22-18, 15-10, 21-21).
Top Scorers
Zenit: Sergey Karasev (13), Drew Gordon (13 + 8 reb), Ivan Lazarev (12 + 6 reb), Kyle Kuric (11)
Enisey: Denis Zakharov (16), Suleiman Braimoh (14 + 10 reb), Zabian Dowdell (14 + 6 reb + 5 ast)
Story
Zenit had eight different players score at least seven points and shot 60% inside the arc en route to a 12-point win at home.
Coming off the national team window (St. Petersburg parted with five players during the break), the home team did just enough to secure a comfortable sixth-straight win and send Enisey to 1-5.
Zenit took an early 15-6 lead behind five points apiece from Sergey Karasev and Drew Gordon, who would both finish with 13.
Enisey rebounded and even tied the game at 34-apiece midway through the 2nd quarter, but steady free-throw shooting and a Demonte Harper tripled helped the hosts take a 49-42 lead into the break.
Vasily Karasev’s men continued to pull away in the 3rd, stretching the advantage to a dozen. Enisey never really threatened in the 4th, allowing Zenit to lead by as much as 19 with five minutes remaining. The home team went on to win, 85-73, and extend a winning streak that began on October 8.
Highlights
. @zenitbasket vs. @BC_Enisey one minute highlights 📹 pic.twitter.com/frdkPpx03z
— VTB United League (@VTBUL) December 1, 2017
Block of the Game
Stat
+16 – St. Petersburg held a 16-point advantage in paint scoring. The home team simply had too many chances to score around the basket and took advantage, shooting 60% inside the arc.
Quotes
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– During the national team window, we only had eight players, so full practices were out of the question. Karasev and Valiev even came back sick. We told the players that the start of the game would be tough today. The contest was up and down. The important thing is that we won and the guys are once again finding connections and getting used to each other.
Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
– Zenit has a stronger roster than we do. They are battling for a spot in the top four, while we’re hoping for a playoff spot. For now, we aren’t clicking. Our players showed their toughness today and made Zenit work. At a certain point, we had a couple unlucky possessions and couldn’t hit open shots. If we’d hit them, everything may have turned out differently.
Up Next
Zenit: December 9 away vs. Avtodor
Enisey: December 9 home vs. PARMA
Snapshot
