Zenit St Petersburg wins again on the road

Zenit St Petersburg improved to 5-1 on the road this season by holding off Umana Reyer Venezia 84-86 in a thriller on Wednesday night. The game came down to the final possessions and Venice had Josh Owens shot to win it in the closing seconds, but he missed to bring an end to a dramatic affair. Ryan Toolson paced Zenit with 21 points, Pavel Antipov scored 17, Janis Tima 15 and Zab Dowdell tallied 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Mike Green led Venice with 29 points, including several late baskets and free throws to keep his team in it. Owens posted 14 points and 8 rebounds, Mike Bramos also scored 14 and Phillip Goss added 11 in defeat.

Bramos scored the game’s first 5 points before Zenit got going through baskets from Evgeny Valiev and Antipov. Green hit a three and then set up Owens for a 12-6 Venice lead. Timma scored the next 5 points and Anton Pushkov tied the game at the line. Goss and Antipov swapped triples before Toolson put Zenit up 17-19 after 10 minutes. Back-to-back threes by Toolson and Timma extended the margin to 19-25, but Bramos countered with a three of his own. Goss soon connected twice from downtown to put Venice in front 28-27. The lead proceeded to change hands on nearly every score with the teams locked in. Antipov hit from outside for a 32-34 edge, but Green tied the game from the line and Goss put the hosts on top. But a Dmitry Golovin triple and Dowdell jumper gave Zenit a 38-41 halftime lead.

Tomas Ress hit a three to open the second half and tie the game. Toolson nosed the visitors back ahead, but a 9-0 run by Bramos and Green gave Venice a 52-45 cushion. Timma hit a three and later Dowdell closed the gap to 56-54. Ben Ortner scored inside for the hosts, but Dowdell added a three before Artem Vikhrov’s free throws put Zenit up 58-59 through three quarters. Pushkov and Toolson made it a 0-9 run with the first baskets of the fourth quarter. Ortner’s basket-plus-foul and a Jeff Viggiano triple sent Venice in front 67-65. It was 70-69 after Toolson’s next basket with five minutes remaining. Antipov tied it and Green and Toolson traded threes to make it 75-75. After Green’s three-point play, Toolson stayed hot with 5 more points in a 0-7 put Zenit ahead 78-82. Green scored on Venice’s next three possessions, but Zenit scored in between and led 84-85 with 31 seconds to go. The hosts denied Zenit with 5 seconds left and after a timeout got the ball to Owens with a shot to win it, but he missed. Golovin claimed the vital rebound and made 1 free throw in the dying seconds to settle the final score.