By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fiat Turin needed to beat Zenit St. Petersburg at home by 12 points or more in order to advance in the EuroCup Quarterfinals. After 20 minutes, the Italians seemed to be doing half the job, since they were up by 11, 47 – 36.
But everything changed after the halftime break.
With Sergey Karasev scoring 14 out of his 17 points in the second half, Zenit turned everything upside down and ultimately won 83 – 67 to punch its playoff ticket.
The VTB League MVP of January also had 3 rebounds and 3 assists for a team-high 19 PIR.
Karasev helped the Russian team storm out of the locker rooms with a 9 – 29 partial score in the third period to assume control for good in the game. Turin never recovered following that assault.
Marko Simonovic scored 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds for Zenit while the 21 points by Diante Garrett proved to be not enough for Turin.
Group F Standings:
| GROUP F | W | L | PTS+ | PTS- | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC BAYERN MUNICH | 5 | 1 | 526 | 480 | 46 |
| ZENIT ST PETERSBURG | 3 | 2 | 462 | 455 | 7 |
| FIAT TURIN | 2 | 3 | 406 | 456 | -50 |
| LIETUVOS RYTAS VILNIUS | 1 | 5 | 527 | 530 | -3 |