Zenit Saint Petersburg (12-6) survived the overtime drama against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (7-11) 80-76 (29-21, 15-21, 6-15, 19-12, 11-7) to get their fourth straight Turkish Airlines EuroLeague win.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
30
|
| Billy Baron | |
| Points | 25 |
| Accuracy | 9-13 |
| Rebounds | 4 |
| Assists | 6 |
Both teams were trading buckets at the start of the overtime while Jordan Mickey started his domination under the baskets. First, he blocked Nate Wolters' shot and then got the offensive rebound and converted two shots from the charity stripe (75-72).
Nevertheless, Zenit lost the ball and Nikola Kalinic performed the fast-break dunk (74-75) with 1:52 on the clock. Jordan Loyd extended Zenit's advantage to 3 points (77-74) as Branko Lazic's long-range shot was off the mark. Loyd provoked the foul and nailed both free shots (79-74) with 25 seconds to play.
Nikola Kalinic missed the three-point shot after the timeout but Andrey Zubkov made the mistake, inbounding the ball. Nate Wolters scored a duo while Billy Baron sealed the deal for Zenit.
Baron, who played against his former team, had a brilliant night, registering a season-high 25 points (4/4 2PT, 5/9 3PT, 2/3 FT), 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 5 drawn fouls, and 30 PIR.
"We knew it was going to be tough to play here, so I am really excited for my team to come out with a win. This is the best place to play in Europe, for sure," said Baron post-game.
"Every game is different. We are flexible as a team. We felt tonight that Billy had the rhythm and we created some situations for him. We felt that he was the one for tonight," spoke Xavi Pascual.
Nate Wolters led the way for Zvezda, posting 21 points (9/15 2PT, 1/5 3PT, 0/2 FT), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover, 3 drawn fouls, and 22 PIR.
Billy Baron hit a floater and reduced Zenit's deficit to 3 points (60-63) with 4:26 to go in the contest. Nikola Kalinic answered on the other end (65-60) but Alex Poythress converted a 2+1 play (63-65). Conner Frankamp hit a jumper and the game was tied at 65 while the clock was showing 3 minutes left.
Both clubs survived the points' drought of 1 minute while Luka Mitrovic nailed both shots from the line (67-65). Though, Frankamp tied the game for once more (67-67). On the other side, Alex Poythress committed an unsportsmanlike foul and sent Luka Mitrovic to the line. The big man sank two shots (69-67) but Zvezda could not get more, having the ball in their hands.
Jordan Loyd hit a two-point shot and the duel was tied at 69 with 37 seconds to play. Nikola Kalinic missed the shot from deep, Zvezda got the rebound but Nate Wolters' three-point shot was off the mark again. Teams went into overtime.
After the first half going neck on neck (44-42 for Zenit), Crvena Zvezda organized an 8-0 run to retake game control in their hands at the start of the third quarter (50-44). Luka Mitrovic and Nikola Ivanovic gave the biggest lead to Zvezda (54-46) but Billy Baron responded.
The Red Star limited Zenit to 6 points per 10 minutes and went into the decisive period, being in front by 7 points (57-50).
Zenit: Billy Baron 25 (4 REB, 6 AST, 4 TO), Jordan Mickey 13, Jordan Loyd 8 (9 AST), Andrey Zubkov 8.
Crvena Zvezda: Nate Wolters (5 REB, 6 AST, 4 STL), Austin Hollins 15, Nikola Kalinic 13 (6 REB, 4 AST), Luka Mitrovic 11, Ognjen Kuzmic 9 (4 REB, 2 BLK).
Highlights
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