Zenit St Petersburg dominated the third quarter and held on in the fourth to defeat defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul 76-67 on Thursday night at Sibur Arena. Alex Poythress shined with a career-high 21 points plus 9 rebounds to lead Zenit, which matched AX Armani Exchange Milan on victories for third place and improved to 13-7 on the season.
Poythress powers Zenit past Efes, 76-67
Game Report
4 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 23 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Jordan Mickey added 15 points, Billy Baron scored 13 with 5 assists and Jordan Loyd tallied 8 points and 8 assists. Vasilije Micic led the Efes attack with 22 points, but delivered only 3 assists and committed 7 turnovers. Krunoslav Simon added 17 points and Adrien Moerman scored 11. The loss dropped Efes to 10-11.
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Mickey opened the scoring with a baseline jumper before Simon got Efes on the scoreboard with a floater. A long jumper by Tibor Pleiss gave Efes its first lead and Micic made it 3-6. Sergey Karasev’s triple left the teams tied after 5 minutes. Jordan Loyd fed Poythress for an alley-oop slam and finished a fastbreak with a layup in a 6-0 run that made it 12-6. Micic responded with a triple, Chris Singleton made free throws and Simon’s scoop shot gave the visitors a 14-15 edge. Baron and Rodrigue Beaubois traded threes to end the first quarter at 17-18.
The offenses heated up with Poythress wreaking havoc inside with his athleticism for Zenit and Moerman making an impact off the bench for Efes. Andrey Zubkov’s slam – Zenit’s third straight bucket courtesy of a Baron assist – made it 25-26 midway through the second quarter. Loyd drew an offensive foul at one end and made a floater at the other to pish the hosts in front. Moerman and Mickey traded threes before Micic drove for a layup and a 32-33 lead. A three by Karasev and a put-back by Poythress helped Zenit take a 37-36 halftime advantage.
Kulagin and Loyd scored the first two baskets of the second half. Poythress made free throws and an alley-oop layup to extend the lead to 45-38. Zenit’s defense held Efes to just a single Simon layup in the first 7 minutes of the third quarter, while Mickey contributed a block on one end and a layup on the other. Baron drilled a three to cap a 13-2 run that gave the hosts a 50-38 cushion. Moerman ended the Efes drought with a layup and Micic made it 52-42 through three quarters.
Zenit continued to pump its lead with a triple by Baron and a bucket by Poythress in the paint taking the margin to 15. Despite the best efforts of Bryant Dunston and Beaubois, Zenit remained in control and a three by Kulagin made it 65-48. Micic stepped up with a three and a three-point play to spark the Efes comeback. Simon followed with a three-point play to complete a 0-11 run that made it 65-59. A three by Kulagin revived Zenit with 3 minutes to go. Simon and Poythress each scored, but the clock became another factor for Efes to deal with and Zenit was able to hold on for the victory.
