«Zenit» catches UNICS in Astana

Russian «Zenit» beat Kazakhstan «Astana» on the road — 105: 82 (25:17, 33:22, 24:23, 23:20).
 
Accurate and coordinated actions at both sides of the court allowed Zenit to take over the game completely even before the half time. A team from St.-Petersburg dominated the boards, punished an opponent ruthlessly for their mistakes, and had sharp throws in the final stages of attacks. Russian team broke away shortly after the first quarter has passed the equator: Sergey Karasev scored 5 points in 27 seconds, this rush was supported by sub-in Kyle Landry. Robert Lowry attempted later to organize a counter-attack, but the breakthrough of 12 points by navy-white-blue team in the middle of the second quarter brought the team to a 20-point lead (58:39 after 20 minutes). After switching the sides, Zenit tied all loose ends in order to win that allowed them to catch up UNICS ranking third in the standings so far. In addition, Zenit has gained more than 100 points in the third match in a row.
 
Scoring leaders:
 
«Astana»: Robert Lowry (22), Roderick Odom (18 + 7 rebounds), Ousman Kruballi (13).
 
«Zenit»: Ryan Toolson (24+5 ast), Janis Timma (21), Sergey Karasev (16)

Head coach of Astana, Ilias Papatheodorou:
- Congratulations to Zenit on a victory, it has been completely deserved. We played without energy, defence was not aggressive, and this is our problem. And, of course, Zenit is a high-level team with good players. Today we conceded the game easily. We need to continue to work, we have a very difficult and busy schedule now.
 
Head coach of Zenit, Vasily Karasev:
– We played well in defense, and used a big rotation. The important thing is that we didn’t relax when having a 20-point lead. What is crucial, we made it both in defence and in attack. There were some good fast breaks. We played under basket, then we moved the attack to the perimeter for 3-pointers. Overall, I’m happy with the game.
 
The next match of Astana will take place at a home court, on January 25 and 26.  The capital team will host Caspian from Aktau in the frame of the National League of Kazakhstan.