By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid fought hard to defend its place in the standings against fellow playoffs suitors Zenit St Petersburg with a 75-71 victory on the road in Round 28 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Thursday.
A block by Walter Tavares on Alex Poythress’ effort with 1:20 remaining and Real up by one point set the mood for a nerve-wracking finale, before Tavares gave his team a three-point advantage with just a minute left to play and, eventually, the victory.
“Zenit is playing very good, I think Xavi [Pascual] is doing a great job and we knew how difficult it was going to be to win here. I’m very happy for my players that we responded after a tough loss on Tuesday against Khimki”, said Pablo Laso following the win.
Tavares finished with a team-high performance of 16 points and 9 rebounds for Laso’s squad, as Real bounced back from their defeat to Khimki earlier in the week to improve to a 17-11 record. Gabriel Deck added up to his efforts with 15 points and Carlos Alocen posted 8 points.
Zenit stayed in control for most of the second half but couldn’t hold off their visitors’ late comeback, as they now slip to a 16-11 record in the standings. Kevin Pangos led the way for Xavi Pascual’s squad with 14 points and seven assists, Billy Baron had 12 points, Alex Poythress posted 11 points and Mateusz Ponitka had 10 points and 7 boards for Zenit.