By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Mateusz Ponitka and Arturas Gudaitis helped Zenit St Petersburg bounce back and defeat visiting Zalgiris Kaunas 77-65 in Round 20 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Friday. Zenit has also won their earlier clash in the first half of the regular season with an 83-75 win on the road.
Ponitka led the Russian side with 15 points and 4 rebounds, while Gudaitis posted 15 points and 8 rebounds for Xavi Pascual’s team.
Following this victory, Zenit ends the double-game week with a 12-6 record, behind competition leaders CSKA, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
“Congratulations to both teams for a very good game, now we have to go further and focus on the next games. You get used to the schedule – we take care of our bodies and the coaches prepare us well. We just go with our routines and so far it’s ok, let’s keep it like that”, commented Ponitka after the game.
After a tough battle for nearly three quarters after which Zenit had a slight 7-point advantage, Billy Baron’s efforts (11 points) paid off as the hosts expanded their lead to 10 points with three minutes to go. Martin Schiller’s squad never managed to recover from the deficit while their defensive effort crippled as the hosts took total control in crunch time.
“We are a team, we have to try to win even if we have problems. Sometimes it will be impossible but we have to try in every game, that is what our supporters and this club deserve. We have to be ready in any occasion, be flexible and follow our plan”, said Zenit coach Xavi Pascual
This marks Zalgiris‘ second slip this week, as they fall to an 11-9 record, after the loss to CSKA in Moscow earlier in the week. Thomas Walkup led all Zalgiris scorers with 12 points, Lukas Lekavicius and Joffrey Lauvergne posted 11 points each, while Marius Grigonis added 10 points.
Photo: EuroLeague