Zenit holds off Ludwigsburg to move into first place in Group L

Zenit St Petersburg held on for a tough 83-80 victory over MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to take over sole possession of first place in Group L. Zenit improved to 2-0 in the Last 32 thanks to 19 points and 6 assists from Zab Dowdell and some timely blocked shots down the stretch to hold off a late Ludwigsburg comeback. Janis Timma added 14 points, Andrey Koshcheev scored 10 as did Ryan Toolson, whose 4 free throws in the final minute haled seal the win. Mustafa Shakur paced the visitors with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jon Brockman scored 18 in a loss that dropped the team to 0-2. Kerron Johnson and Tekele Cotton finished with 11 points each.

Koshcheev scored the first two baskets to start Zenit the right way, but Rocky Trice soon tied the game. Ryan Toolson was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made the resulting 3 free throws, but Ludwigsburg kept close. Cotton free throws tied the game at 12-12 midway through the first quarter. Pavel Antipov’s basket-plus-foul and three-pointer pushed Zenit to a 20-14 advantage, however Brockman scored twice to bring the visitors within 24-22 after 10 minutes. Jason Boone gave the visitors a slim lead early in the second quarter and a Royce O’Neale triple made it 28-30. Dowdell put the hosts back in front by 2 at the midway point in the quarter. Timmas reeled off 5 straight points, but Shakur kept Ludwigsburg close. Koshcheev and Artem Vikhrov pushed the Zenit advantage to 7 before Johnson ended the half at 46-41.

Zenit surged ahead on a Timma triple and Dowdell free throws to lead 55-45 midway through the third quarter. Cotton provided a spark for Ludwigsburg and Shakur followed up in a 0-8 run to get the visitors back in the game. Dowdell made it 59-55 through three quarters. Dowdell and Koshcheev combined to extend the lead to 7 early in the fourth quarter. Shawn Huff chipped away at the Ludwigsburg deficit with a three-pointer, but still the hosts remained in control. Anton Pushkov free throws made it 74-66 with five minutes to go. But Shakur scored twice and then bettered Timma free throws with a three-pointer to make it 76-73. Huff soon brought Ludwigsburg within 1. But the visitors had their next 3 shots blocked and committed 3 turnovers in the next two minutes as the lead reached 6 and Toolson iced the game from the line.