Zenit beats Venice, locks first place in Group L

Zenit St. Petersburg clinched first place in Group L by downing Umana Reyer Venice 79-72 at CSKA Moscow's Alexander Gomelskiy Universal Sport Hall in the Russian capital on Wednesday. Zenit improved to 4-1 in Group L and sealed first place while Venice dropped to 2-3 but still has chances to advance to the elimination series. Janis Timma led the winners with 17 points. Ryan Toolson added 15, Andrey Koshcheev had 14, Pavel Antipov got 10 and 10 rebounds while Anton Pushkov also grabbed 10 boards for Zenit. Josh Owens led Venice with 16 points. Phillip Goss added 13 while Jeff Viggiano had 11 for the guests. Owens had 12 points in the first quarter to make Venice get a 20-26 lead after 10 minutes. Antipov and Koshcheev led a 15-2 run which made Zenit regain a 35-30 lead. Zenit led 44-38 at halftime and boosted its margin to 61-49 on a dunk by Koshcheev. Venice managed to get within 65-61 late in the third quarter but Timma and Toolson stepped up in crunch time and Zenit improved its defense to cruise to a well-deserved win.

Boris Savovic got Venice going with a quick basket but Toolson answered from downtown and Koshcheev added a put-back layup for a 5-2 Zenit lead. Owens found his first points but Antipov and Timma hit consecutive three-pointers to boost Zenit's lead to 11-4. Mike Bramos answered from downtown and a layup by Owens kept Venice within 11-9. Timma scored again but Venice kept running its offense through Owens, who singlehandedly gave the guests a 14-15 edge. Viggiano stepped up with back-to-back baskets, an unstoppable Owens scored again and free throws by Goss gave Venice a 18-24 margin. Free throws by Pushkov and a jumper by Goss fixed the score at 20-26 after 10 minutes. Viggiano scored again early in the second quarter but the guests went scoreless for 4 minutes right after that. Meanwhile, Antipov and Koshcheev combined for 9 points in a 15-2 run that made Zenit regain the lead, 35-30. Savovic and Owens rescued Venice and allowed their team to tie the game again, 38-38. Zabian Dowdell made free throws, igniting a 6-0 run with Timma capped with a put-back basket for a 44-38 Zenit lead, which Goss cut to 44-39 at halftime.

Bramos struck from downtown immediately after the break. Vikhrov split free throws and a layup by Michele Ruzzier made it a one-point game, 45-44. Toolson stepped up with a triple and added a baseline jumper to give Zenit fresh air at 50-44. Benjamin Ortner hit a mid-range jumper but a red hot Toolson bettered that with a bomb from downtown and Pushkov added a one-handed slam for a 55-46 score. Dowdell downed a five-meter jumper that capped a 7-0 run, as Ortner answered with a jump hook. Koshcheev followed a two-handed dunk with a layup but Goss and Jarrius Jackson kept Venice within 61-51. Koshcheev dunked again, Ortner kept pacing the guests with a three-point play and Viggiano struck from downtown for a 65-57 Venice deficit. Jackson scored in penetration and a coast-to-coast layup by Viggiano got the guests within 65-61. A free throw by Timma and a dunk by Pushkov boosted Zenit's lead to 68-61 after 30 minutes. Timma buried a jumper early in the fourth quarter and Zowdell buried a three-pointer to make Venice call timeout at 73-61. Goss answered from downtown and erased Koshcheev basket with free throws for a 75-66 score with 6 minutes left. Savovic hit a three-pointer but Toolson swished a jumper off the dribble and soon scored again to seal the outcome, 79-70, with 2 minutes to go. Venice kept trying but it was too little, too late for the guests.