Toko puts on a clinic in Moscow: Shengelia’s career-high paves the way for CSKA’s win over Zenit / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Valery Sharifulin/TASS - Scanpix Credit Valery Sharifulin/TASS - Scanpix

In a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague derby between two Russian powerhouses, Shengelia-led CSKA Moscow (2-1) came out on top against Zenit St. Petersburg (2-1) at their home floor 77-67 (21-14, 15-17, 23-21, 18-15).

Player of the Game EFF 37 Tornike Shengelia Points 33 Accuracy 12-20 Rebounds 8 Assists 2

CSKA increased their lead to double digits with less than seven minutes remaining (64-54). Even though Zenit cut their deficit to nine (63-72), Tornike Shengelia answered with a monumental and-one, giving the home fans a 10-point victory.

Tornike Shengelia reached a new EuroLeague career-high by improving his previous 31-point record with 33 points tonight (10/16 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 7/11 FT), 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Shengelia also tied his most efficient EuroLeague performance with 37 PIR tonight.

Shengelia posted the best performance in terms of points and PIR of this EuroLeague season, exceeding Vasilije Micic's 32 points against CSKA and Shane Larkin's 35 PIR versus Real Madrid.

"If we don't win, the numbers don’t mean anything," Shengelia said after the game. "So I’m happy for my team. I think that we played great defensively and offensively. We moved the ball offensively and defensively we had a couple of minutes of struggle, but we came back. We never gave up and I’m glad, thank God, we won the game."

Jordan Loyd was the best man for Zenit tonight, finishing with 19 points (5/8 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 3/3 FT), 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 20 PIR.

"We didn’t find the rhythm generally on offense, Zenit's coach Xavi Pascual noted. "Maybe because of free throws that all game we were [missing]. From the other side, especially in the first half, we had opportunities to score under the basket, we didn’t do it. Also, we couldn’t stop Shengelia all night. This is why couldn’t win."

CSKA kicked the game off with a dominant 16-2 run, led by Tornike Shengelia, but Zenit weathered the storm by ending the period with a 12-2 spurt of their own, cutting their deficit to seven after one (14-21).

CSKA: Tornike Shengelia 33 (8 REB), Will Clyburn 16 (7 REB), Alexey Shved 8, Johannes Voigtmann 8, Nikita Kurbanov 4.

Zenit: Jordan Loyd 19, Dmitry Kulagin 8, Andrey Zubkov 8, Jordan Mickey 7 (5 REB), Arturas Gudaitis 6 (6 REB), Mateusz Ponitka 5, Mindaugas Kuzminsas 5, Billy Baron 5.

Highlights

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