"Almost" is not enough
05.04.2021
Our team cut the 18-point fourth quarter deficit to one point against Zenit. But the miracle did not happen...
Zenit St.Petersburg – CSKA: 81-77 (-4)
Zenit: Pangos (9 + 3 rb + 7 as + 4 to), Fridzon (6 + 2 as + 4 pf), Thomas (18 + 8 rb + 3 st + 4 to), Ponitka (8 + 5 rb + 3 as + 3 st + 4 pf), Black (5 + 2 bs + 4 pf) – start; Zaharov (12), Volkhin (0), Baron (15), Khvostov (0), Trushkin (0), Zubkov (3), Poythress (5 + 2 st)…
CSKA: Ukhov (1), Hackett (20 + 3 as), Shengelia (10 + 3 rb + 2 as + 4 to), Kurbanov (3 + 4 pf), Eric (0) – start; Lundberg (3 + 3 as + 3 st), Khomenko (3 to), Antonov (2 + 3 rb), Voigtmann (19 + 2 st), Kochergin (DNP), Clyburn (19 + 7 rb + 3 as + 3 st), Lopatin (DNP)…
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
First of all, congratulations to Zenit on the victory. The opponents started the match decisively, determined, we can say that they were hunting us throughout the game. Basketball is a game of runs and we've had both positive runs and lapses. We managed to contain Pangos for a very long time, almost 30 minutes he could not score points, and scored the first points five minutes before the end from free throws. Zenit started very aggressively, Zakharov helped a lot, Baron scored the key baskets in the third quarter, he gave his team a big lead. We fought, believed in what we were doing - from 18 points behind we cut it to 1 point, but this was not enough. The details decided the outcome of the game, we will work on it.
