2019-20Regular SeasonRound 19
Zenit St Petersburg 72
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 66
January 15, 2020 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 SIBUR ARENA

Zenit outlasts Baskonia at home

In a thriller, Zenit registered consecutive wins in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for the first time by edging KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 72-66 at home on Wednesday. Zenit improved to 6-13 in the standings while Baskonia dropped to 8-11. Will Thomas led the winners with 18 points, Mateusz Ponitka added 14 and Colton Iverson had 10 for Zenit. Nik Stauskas paced Baskonia with 15 points and Toko Shengelia and Pierria Henry each added 13. After Shengelia scored down low to give Baskonia its final lead, 63-65, as Thomas and Ponitka fueled a 9-1 run that gave Zenit the victory.

Youssoupha Fall got Baskonia going with a layup, but Thomas and Iverson fueled a 10-0 run that Ponitka capped with a driving layup. After Shengelia and Alex Renfroe exchanged driving baskets, Matt Janning brought Baskonia a bit closer, 12-7. Iverson kept pushing Zenit with a layup and Ponitka bettered Henry's jumper with a triple that restored a 17-9 margin. Shengelia stepped up with a fastbreak dunk and Stauskas struck from downtown to bring Baskonia within 17-14. Evgeny Voronov sank a floater and Andrew Albicy buried one from beyond the arc for a 23-16 Zenit lead after 10 minutes. Gustavo Ayon scored twice around the basket to make it a double-digit game, 28-16, early in the second quarter. Shengelia fed Michael Eric for a dunk and scored in penetration, igniting a 0-8 run that Shavon Shields capped with a layup for a 28-24 Baskonia deficit. Ponitka rescued Zenit with a power basket and Austin Hollins added a floater to keep Zenit way ahead, 32-24. Shields downed a catch-and-shoot jumper, but Iverson and Ponitka restored a double-digit Zenit lead, 36-26. Janning buried a triple and even though Abromaitis answered, Ilimane Diop brought Baskonia within 39-31 at halftime.

Thomas followed a jump hook with a layup immediately after the break for a 43-31 margin. Shengelia took over with a layup-plus-foul and Stauskas struck from beyond the arc to bring Baskonia within 45-37. Henry scored around the basket and Eric took over with a wild-put-back slam that made it a 4-point game. Henry capped a 2-12 run with a driving basket before Alex Renfroe scored in penetration and Iverson added a put-back layup to give Zenit fresh air at 49-43. Shengelia buried a jumper and Stauskas banked in an off-balance shot, but Thomas singlehandedly kept Zenit ahead, 53-47. Diop dunked, fixing the score at 53-49 after 30 minutes. Thomas kept pacing the hosts early in the second quarter and Andrey Zubkov added a tip-in for a 57-49 score. Janning and Henry each sank a triple, but Ponitka restored a 59-55 Zenit lead with less than 6 minutes to go. Henry struck from downtown, giving Baskonia its first lead since the opening basket, 59-60. Thomas scored down low, but Stauskas did better with a three-pointer. Renfroe scored in penetration to tie it at 63-63 with 2:27 left. Shengelia delivered with a put-back layup, but Thomas matched that with a big basket in the low post. Ponitka buried a five-meter jumper and Abromaitis added a layup that boosted Zenit's lead to 69-65 with 29 seconds to go. Henry and Zubkov each split free throws before Thomas collected a steal that sealed the outcome.

Pivotal performer

Will Thomas was strong throughout the game and stepped up big in crunch time. He finished the game with 19 points on near-perfect shooting: 6-of-6 two-point shots, 1-of-2 from downtown and 4-of-4 free throws. He added 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 fouls drawn for a PIR of 27.

Game-changing moment

After trailing for more than 35 minutes, a put-back layup by Toko Shengelia gave Baskonia a 63-65 lead with 2 minutes left. Will Thomas scored in the low post, Mateusz Ponitka sank a five-meter baseline jumper and Tim Abromaitis found space for a layup. Andrey Zubkov and Thomas made free throws to seal the win. Baskonia only scored 1 point in crunch time, and that 9-1 final run made the difference in the game.

Stellar stat

Zenit hit 24 of 31 two-point shots (77.4%). It was the eighth-best mark this decade and the second-best two-point shooting percentage in the EuroLeague this season. Anadolu Efes scored 78.1% of its two-point shots (25 of 32), also against Baskonia, on December 6, 2019.

Did you notice?

Alex Renfroe finished the game with 10 assists, matching his personal-best in the competition. Renfroe previously had 10 assists this season, against Anadolu Efes Istanbul on November 14, 2019.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Friday. Baskonia visits CSKA Moscow, in a rematch of one of last season's playoffs series, while Zenit hosts Valencia Basket.

Will Thomas - Zenit St Petersburg - EB19
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; PANTHER, ANNE; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 3439
By Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg23161419
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz16151817
End of Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg23395372
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz16314966
Zenit St Petersburg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 IVERSON, COLTON 20:35 10 3/4   4/5 3 5 8     3     3 4 14
6 ALBICY, ANDREW 14:58 5 1/1 1/4         4   1         5
9 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 16:38 2 1/2 0/1         1 1 4     2 1 -3
10 THOMAS, WILL 28:47 19 6/6 1/2 4/4 2 4 6   2       2 3 27
12 RENFROE, ALEX 28:23 6 3/4 0/4     1 1 10   3     2   7
14 PUSHKOV, ANTON 3:39     0/1             1 1       -1
16 TRUSHKIN, VLADISLAV 5:15                              
18 VORONOV, EVGENY 13:27 3 1/3   1/2   1 1   1 2   1 3 3 -1
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 17:58 3 1/2   1/2 1   1       1   2 1 2
21 ABROMAITIS, TIM 9:33 5 2/2 0/2 1/2 1 2 3 1         1 1 6
25 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 31:49 14 4/4 1/3 3/5   6 6 2 4 5 1   1 4 21
34 AYON, GUSTAVO 8:58 5 2/3   1/1 1   1     1   1 3 3 3
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 72 24/31 3/17 15/21 8 20 28 18 8 21 3 2 19 20 80
        77.4% 17.6% 71.4%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 PENAVA, AJDIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 37:13 13 3/4 2/6 1/2 1 1 2 2 4 6     1 3 11
11 JANNING, MATT 25:16 9 0/1 2/4 3/3   2 2 1 1 1     2 3 10
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 11:02 4 1/4   2/2 1 1 2     1 1 1 1 2 3
17 GARCIA, SERGI 2:50                   2         -2
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 1:56 2 1/1                     2 1 1
22 STAUSKAS, NIK 28:00 15 2/4 3/6 2/2 1   1 2 2 2   1 4 1 9
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 36:57 13 6/8 0/3 1/1 2 4 6 6 3 4     3 8 24
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 28:47 4 2/4 0/4   1 1 2 2 1 1   1 3   -2
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 10:12     0/2               1   1   -2
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 17:47 6 2/6   2/2 3 3 6   1 2     3 1 5
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 66 17/32 7/25 11/12 12 13 25 13 12 20 2 3 20 19 60
        53.1% 28% 91.7%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

PLAZA, JOAN
Zenit St Petersburg
"What we expected is that this game was going to be a really tough one. We know, my staff and I, this team perfectly and know exactly the character of their players, even of the club. Knowing that after beating Barcelona and easily beating Gran Canaria [in the Spanish League], they would try to get in shape, but we showed probably our best face on defense, again. We kept them again under 70 points. In the last games, we are moving around that number, which means that the team understands that our defense is going to provide the fast break situation and put our set plays in motion. But we had 21 turnovers, too many, and some of them are unforced, probably because we wanted to play with a little bit of hurry. It is good to win finally at home because the last victory was not in this building. It will be great if we can carry on this way in the second half of the regular season. The team is working well and basically, my players, more than I, deserved this kind of win."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"The game was like we talked, a hard game decided in the last minute. I think we didn't start good on offense or defense. We started the game with 4 three-point shots, which is not how we must start the game, and our defense was not good, but we played better in the last quarter, I think, and in the last 2 minutes. Maybe some players needed more energy to take some rebounds, to take easier options on offense. I believe that there were two key moments in this game. We had a bad start of the game, on offense or defense, with no aggressiveness and no patience to play offense, and the last 2-3 minutes in which we had to box out, get some rebounds and play with more clarity on offense, but we fought for the win and the team never gave up, we were always there. It went down to one ball but this is sports. We lost today, and tomorrow we will fight to win."

Players

PONITKA, MATEUSZ
Zenit St Petersburg
"We definitely came here to win. We have to start to defend our home court. It is a good start for us, this season, we won at home for the first time. We definitely made too many mistakes today, that could have cost us the game, including myself, I mean some crazy junior mistakes, like everybody. Still, that is not acceptable for the next games, but we are very happy that we finally started winning some games. It is our second win in a row and now, we have another game at home. We will try to be physically and mentally ready for the next opponent."
THOMAS, WILL
Zenit St Petersburg
"Getting defensive stops and rebounding the ball were the keys. We had a few steals and were able to score some free throws down the end to help us seal the win. We have been working hard all season. We are working to be competitive in the EuroLeague and now it is starting to show."