Zenit get revenge road win over Avtodor, as Baron-Loyd pave the way / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: BNS Credit BNS

Following their home defeat to Monaco Basket, Zenit Saint Petersburg (9-3) bounced back with a 93-75 (28-26, 23-13, 16-18, 26-18) road win over Avtodor Saratov (8-3) for the VTB League.

Zenit Saint Petersburg / Schedule

Zenit Saint Petersburg Monaco Basket77-86 Zenit Saint Petersburg Anadolu Efes IstanbulThu17:00

For the St. Petersburg team, the win was important not only as revenge for the December loss to the same rival but also for their place in the standings. The team coached by Xavi Pascual can catch up with league leaders UNICS Kazan in case Zielona Gora defeats last year's EuroCup finalists.

Billy Baron, who played a great game with CSKA last Monday, tallying 20 points, did not look well against Monaco. The American guard went scoreless, on 0/7 from the field and over 11 minutes of playing time. This time, Baron was -together with Jordan Loyd, who also had a bad night against Monaco- his team's first scorer with 18 points.

The most impressive element in his performance is that he actually scored 17 points (on 5/5 3-point shooting) in less than six minutes. He made his first basket 8:23 minutes into the game and had 17 points 4:09 minutes into the second quarter.

Zenit got a double-digit lead in the second period and easily overcame Kenny Chery's 19 points.

Avtodor: Kenny Chery 19 (6/11 FG, 5/6 FT, 4 REB), Jaron Johnson 14 (5/12 FG, 2/3 FT, 6 REB, 3 AST), Evgeniy Kolesnikov 10.

Zenit Saint Petrersburg: Jordan Loyd 18 (6/10 FG, 2/2 FT, 4 REB, 4 AST, 4 TO), Billy Baron 18 (5/10 FG, 3/3 FT, 4 REB), Alex Poythress 14 (5/9 FG, 4/8 FT, 7 REB, 4 AST, 2 ST), Jordan Mickey 14 (5/8 FG, 3/5 FT, 3 REB, 5 AST, 3 ST), Mindaugas Kuzminskas 9 (4/5 FG).

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