Zenit lost to a Euroleague champion Efes in a tight battle

Our team was finishing the Turkish stage of the preseason preparations with the last game. But this last was against a reigning Euroleague champions from Anadolu Efes. Hence, Efes lacked some players due to the ongoing Eurobasket – Polonara, Larkin, Tuncer, Mbaye, and the head coach of the Turkish NT Ergin Ataman.

Though, the opponent looked very solid at the Turkish Riviera tournament as they already won both CSKA and Lokomotiv Kuban.

The game went just as expected: physical, fast, and tight. Efes grabbed an early lead and was leading all the way until the last quarter. Igor Volkhin scored 3 triples in a row and let our team finally take the lead.

But the time-out helped Anadolu Efes, and they got the lead back. The crucial shot was taken by Rodrigue Beaubois who shot the three and helped his team win – 75:70.

Zenit is finishing its Turkish camp and is going back to Saint Petersburg.