Zenit Pulls Away From Nymburk

Zenit defeated Nymburk at home, 102-90. The score was close until midway through the 3rd quarter, when Zenit began to wear down Nymburk's defense, putting together a 20-7 run to close the period and enter the 4th with a 12-point lead.

Recap
Zenit led much of the first half, but struggled to pull away. Michael Dixon and Howard Sant-Roos kept the visitors within striking distance, even picking up a two-point lead midway through the 2nd quarter.

Ryan Tooolson and Zabian Dowdell did most of the damage for Zenit. The duo combined for 30 points in the first half, but Zenit's lead was only one, 51-50, at the break.

Nymburk went on a 9-3 run to open the 3rd quarter, picking up a 59-54 advantage, forcing Vasily Karasev to call a timeout.

Zenit got back in the game by pushing the tempo. Nymburk couldn't match the home team's depth over 40 minutes and gradually ran out of steam. A Janis Timma '3' late in the 3rd quarter put St. Petersburg on top by double digits, 82-70.

The home team continued to control the momentum in the 4th quarter, scoring over 100 points thanks to a field goal from Zabian Dowdell.

Star Player
Ryan Toolson. Zenit's leading scorer finished with a game-high 29 points (7-11 from downtown) to go with seven assists.

Stat of the Game
51 - number of points scored by Zenit in each half.

Quotes
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
- Overall, I'm satisfied with the game. Our guys played good basketball, especially in the second half. During the first half, our offense was solid, but we struggled on defense. We didn't do a good job in man-to-man. We fixed that in the 3rd quarter and pulled ahead by 18 points. At the end of the game, we put our young guys in and some others that didn't play, given we are flying to Georgia tomorrow.

Nymburk head coach Ronen Ginzburg:
- I'd like to note that we played without two important starters today, Jiri Welsch and Maxim De Zeeuw, which is why we only had one point guard. During the first half, we played well on offense and started the second half strong, but then Zenit's deeper bench, experience and 3-point shooting had an impact. We were good on offense today, but we didn't play well on defense. We play Zenit at home in three weeks and will try to get revenge then.

Snapshot