A defensive clinic by Crvena Zvezda helps ease though Zenit / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Sergey Grachev/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Sergey Grachev/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

A prolific defensive performance by Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (5-8) helps power the Serbian club past struggling Zenit St Petersburg (8-5) 69-58 (23-16, 19-12, 16-12, 11-18).

Player of the Game EFF 14 Nate Wolters Points 14 Accuracy 6-11 Rebounds 5 Assists 3

It was a long night for the Russian side as 58 points scored in this match marked the tied-2nd-worst offensive performance in the club's history in the Euroleague. The lowest mark for Zenit was reached during last year's playoffs when the team scored only 53 points against FC Barcelona.

Crvena Zvezda got off to a good start (10-3) and never looked back. Luka Mitrovic hit a tough driving layup to put the Serbian powerhouse up 14 at the half (42-28).

The second half was only a formality as Zvezda continued to mark their presence on the defensive end. The Russian side looked lost in the match and subsequently couldn't get back into the game.

Crvena Zvezda's head coach Dejan Radonjic delighted with a relatively easy victory: "First of all, congratulations to the players for the good game and the win."

"It was important for this game to play differently than the last one against UNICS, and we did it," the coach noted. He was quick to point out the defensive performance by his team: "From the beginning, our defense was good, for 40 minutes."

"The second half, especially in the beginning, we gave up so many turnovers, but we played good defensively and I think we deserved the win."

Zenit head coach Xavi Pasqual did not like the product his team put out on the court. "They played more aggressive than us in all the situations, defensively and offensively," the coach noted.

"When we were behind in the score, we didn't find the way to play, we made a lot of turnovers, all the team was very nervous," Pasqual pointed out in the post-game interview.

The Spanish specialist ultimately tipped his hat to Zvezda's performance: "They put us completely out of the game, so we have to congratulate them, they were much better than us."

Stellar team performance by Crvena Zvezda was led by Nate Wolters who scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists with 14 PIR.

Zenit was pushed forward by Jordan Mickey who recorded 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 18 PIR.

Zenit: Jordan Mickey 16 (7/9 2PT, 5 REB), Conner Frankamp 12 (3/7 2PT, 2/3 3PT), Andrey Zubkov 9 (4/4 2PT, 8 REB).Zvezda: Nate Wolters 14 (6/10 2PT, 5 REB), Nikola Kalinic 11 (4/9 2PT, 5 REB, 4 AST, 7 TO) ir Ognjen Kuzmic 11 (5/8 2PT, 5 REB).

Full match highlights:

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