Harper leads Zenit past Ulm

In a high-scoring battle that went down to the final seconds, Zenit St. Petersburg grabbed its first road win in Group D by edging ratiopharm Ulm 93-95 in Germany on Wednesday. Zenit improved to 2-2 and will play four of his six remaining regular season games at home. Ulm dropped to 2-2. Demonte Harper led the winners with 23 points, Sergey Karasev and Marko Simonovic each added 17 while Kyle Kuric had 10 for Zenit. Ryan Thompson led Ulm with 28 points, Isaac Fotu scored 18 on 7-of-8 two-point shooting and Trey Lewis had 17 for the hosts. Karasev and Kuric shined early to give Zenit a 22-25 lead after 10 minutes. Lewis and Fotu rescued Ulm in the second quarter, but a jumper by Simonovic kept Zenit within 44-42 at halftime. Karasev and Kuric got plenty of help from Harper, who led the visitors to a double-digit margin, 62-73, late in the third quarter. Harper kept pacing Zenit early in the fourth quarter, but Lewis and Thompson brought Ulm within 93-95 with 21.4 seconds to go. Thompson had a chance to send the game to overtime, but missed near the basket down the stretch.

Fotu got Ulm going with a reverse layup off the baseline and a jump hook for a 6-4 lead. Drew Gordon stepped up for Zenit and Karasev followed a dunk with his first three-pointer to give Zenit a 9-13 edge. Luke Harandogy and Thompson rescued Ulm, giving the hosts an 18-17 edge. Harper and Kuric each struck from downtown and Nicolas Laprovittola added a driving basket for a 22-25 Zenit lead after 10 minutes. A wild three-point play by Kuric and a fade-away jumper by Evgeny Voronov boosted the lead to 27-32 early in the second quarter. Lewis stepped up with back-to-back triples and a layup in transition by Fotu set a 35-34 Ulm edge. Laprovittola, Simonovic and Karasev made free throws, but an outstanding Thompson followed a fast break slam with a reverse layup for a 44-42 Ulm edge at halftime.

Back-to-back triples by Karasev and a fast break layup by Scottie Reynolds gave Zenit a 49-52 lead soon after the break. Da'Sean Butler and Thompson tried to change things for Ulm. Fotu dunked off a wild spin move and a jumper by Toure Murry tied it at 57-57. Simonovic and Laprovittola rescued Zenit. Harper followed a layup-plus-foul with a triple and Kuric also struck from downtown to make it a double-digit game, 62-73. Murry joined the three-point shootout to fix the score at 65-73 after 30 minutes. Evgeny Valiev and Kuric took over with back-to-back slam and a driving layup by Simonovic restored a 69-79 Zenit lead with over seven minutes left. A red-hot Harper stayed on fire with consecutive layups and a jumper, but a rain of free throws gave Ulm hope at 80-88 with three minutes to go. Harper seemed to seal the outcome with consecutive layups, but 6 quick points by Lewis and a big triple by Thompson brought Ulm within 93-95 with 21.4 seconds left. Ulm got the ball right away, but Thompson missed an off-balance shot near the basket almost at the buzzer.