Andrey Martyuk’s 32 points helped Loko defeat Zenit – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

The confrontation between Krasnodar and Zenit has not yet acquired any special principles, although the rivals already had their own history of relations this season. In the final of the United League Super Cup, Zenit gave the finishing touch to the railroaders (85:83) and took revenge on the St. Petersburg team on their own field during the regular season (69:67). By the way, it was with that victory that the resurgence of Loko began, which had failed at the beginning of the season. In the next dozen matches, the Kuban team only lost twice.

Zenit also faced the important event in excellent shape. In only one of the previous ten games did Javier Pascual’s team fail to win, losing to the championship leader, CSKA.

The background of the tournament also contributed to the state of yesterday’s match. The rivals approached the head-to-head duel in neighboring places in the regular season table: Zenit was in third place, and Lokomotiv-Kuban was in fourth.

The guests started the match actively and in the middle of the first quarter they led with a score of 15:9. Surprisingly, during this period Zenit only had one accurate shot from mid-range. Before the end of 10 minutes, the St. Petersburg team still caught up with the rival: they were helped by three-pointers (5 out of 7). Loko, on the other hand, relied more on two-point shots (9 of 12) and at the beginning of the second quarter maintained a minimal lead: 26:24.

After a productive first 10 minutes, the teams slowed down. This is especially true for homeowners. They could only score 11 points in the second quarter.

The “railway workers” themselves scored 18 points during the reporting period, and a third of them were the personal merit of 23-year-old center Andrei Martyuk, who, after a failed start to the season, seems to have regained his former confidence. in his abilities. The Krasnodar team reached the big break with a lead of 44:35.

Once the match resumed, it was logical to expect a chase from Zenit. But the beginning of the third quarter turned into a beneficial performance for the wild Martyuk. In three and a half minutes, Andrey scored 11 points. In total, he accumulated up to 15 points during this quarter.

“Zenith” slept during the opponent’s advance. And when I came to my senses, the advantage of the “railway workers” was already in double digits. At the start of the last 10 minutes they had reached a respectable 15 points: 69:54.

Unfortunately for the locals, until the end of the match they found nothing to oppose the rival and specifically Martyuk. The Russian center played a phenomenal game, hitting 14 of 15 field goals. In total, Andrey scored 32 points and thus updated his personal scoring record.